Girl's Night
by Acantha Rayne Oak-Moon
Summary: *REWRITING* 4 Years Post-war. Hermione has a girls night in planned… wine, gossip and giggles with Ginny, Luna (Lavender, ugh) and a surprise guest that made Hermione a very wealthy witch; not that her friends know about that. Unfortunately, by the time everyone arrives, Hermione's thoughts are consumed by a certain blonde Slytherin.
1. Chapter 1

**Girl's Night**

Chapter 1

Hermione Granger, with some trepidation, brought her mobile phone into the wizarding world. Walking into Diagon Alley, from The Leaky Cauldron, she kept her eyes fixed on the screen as she walked slowly down the cobblestones that made up the magical 'High Street'. The Samsung Galaxy in her hands went loopy: the battery, which had been at 74%, suddenly rocketed to 215%, opened every single app and froze with them all open so she couldn't do anything_. 'Must be the magic of the alley interfering with the electrics, maybe even the mechanics', _she thought,_ 'I'll have to read up on that'. _She stared at the frozen screen, glowing on its brightest setting, the light not even dimming after the minute she'd set for it to go off to save battery. Her eyes suddenly flicked to the signal indicator as it quivered up and down, wavering between 'one bar' and 'no bar'. She waited until the bar came back into view and cast a stasis charm… the Samsung promptly died.

_Why haven't the departments dealing with muggle stuff sorted this out yet, _she wondered to herself irritably._ Another thing I'll end up sorting out and being bloody famous for' _she added with another internal grumble.

She let out a huff and turned around, pacing with agitation back toward the pub that would return her to the muggle world.

Back on the muggle street, she pressed and held the power switch on her android phone and let out an exasperated sigh when the light came on. _Someone really needs to do something about this. Oh, yes! That would be me._ Another sigh and even a resigned shake of the head before she looked at the battery: 70% and the signal indicator: full. She opened the twitter app and sent a private message to her friend: _'Still on for girls night?'_

While she waited for a reply, she stepped back into the pub, grabbed her wand from her bra and flicked it with a muttering of "_patronum duplicia". _Two otters shot from the magical length of vine. She turned to them and offered the same message as in her private tweet, adding the time of 7pm and the location of her Diagon Alley flat; one silvery otter was then sent to her best friend Ginny Potter, and the other to her good friend Luna Longbottom.

Hermione decided to order some lunch while waiting for patronus replies; her muggle friend was insanely busy and she doubted her magic-intolerant phone would have a reply for a while; _I've got time_. She took a seat at the well-worn mahogany bar and gestured to the bartender, Tom, for her usual – butterbeer and fire-carrot/coriander soup.

"I'll get that, Tom", an all too familiar voice came from behind her. "In fact, I'll have the same". A pale hand moved into her peripheral vision and dropped a handful of sickles on the bar. _Magnanimous bastard!_

Hermione rolled her eyes and swivelled on her bar stool. "Thanks Malfoy!" _See? I can be magnanimous too._

"No problem. Mind if I join you?" he asked nonchalantly. It didn't matter he was asking quite casually, seeming friendly even; Hermione knew he was up to something. Slytherin's are always up to something. And Draco was nothing, if not the epitome of a Slytherin.

"It's a free country." _No thanks to you!_ Came that endless inner monologue. _Ok! That was bitchy!_ _But true._

"Four years since the end of the war and you still can't let bygones be bygones?"

"You were an arse to me for seven years, Malfoy. Come and see me in three more, yeah?" _Dammit, I let the bitchy out._

"I would really like to put the past behind us, you know. Can you… erm… we… at least try to be… erm…" Draco Malfoy stumbling over his words, barely making eye contact, shuffling his feet was unsettling. And very, very curious. _Hmmm, is he nervous? Whatever for? _"… friends?"

_Really? That doesn't seem plausible. Sorry Malfoy but you are always going to be a foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach._ _Even if that cockroach's silvery eyes have just a little too much depth._ Where on earth did that thought come from. Hermione shook her head to rid herself of the slightly disturbing detour of that thought.

Malfoy, assuming the witch in front of him, the witch he'd wanted for six years, was responding negatively to even friendship, with that casual and maybe a little amused, shake of her head, felt his heart sink. She was never going to forgive him, he thought dejectedly. _Not that I blame her._ "Okay." He said, in a small sheepish voice. Very un-Malfoy-like.

_Is he… hurt? I haven't even answered yet. Oh shit!_ Realisation hit the muggleborn witch and guilt washed over her, tightening her stomach, her incredible mind mirroring his sheepish look as she chastised itself. _How was I supposed to know? Since when does a Malfoy 'do' sincere? _He was just sitting there, a small frown on his slightly pouty lips and his brow furrowed. _He looks so sad. Like a scolded puppy._ _Oh Merlin. Is that pity for Malfoy? _

Taking a deep breath, she embraced her, usually neglected when it came to Slytherins, compassion and decided she could at least allow him the chance to take the high road for once…

"Draco?" she asked, so tentatively she might have been talking to herself. He didn't move his head but as he was still somewhat facing her, she watched carefully as his _beautiful?_ lost, silvery eyes, flicked slowly up to her face from beneath soft, platinum lashes. _Wow!_ And she somewhat begrudgingly held out her hand for him to shake.

His expression changed so fast in front of her eyes, it was as if it had been enchanted to do so by her own wand; his eyes warmed, the corners of his acid-tongued but oh so sweet looking lipped mouth, twitched upward. _Oh, man! Those lips. Shit, am I staring?_ She felt his soft, warm palm hit hers and long slender fingers, _pianist's fingers,_ wrap around the back of her hand, and squeeze.

**~DRAMIONE~**

One shake, two, three… he held her hand in place longer than it was necessary, and they both knew it. _Was that a blush on her cheeks? No! No, it can't be._ Unbidden, his other hand clasped around the other side of hers as he held their hands together. _Those cheeks are definitely pinker than they were a minute ago. She isn't pulling away and the way she actually said my name. It's small, as signs go but it's definitely different. Maybe if I…_ In millimetres of movement, he started to lean in.

_What is he doing? Is he…? He can't be. _Hermione watched with wide eyes, staring into his; she noticed they were unflinching, wary but determined. _Oh Merlin, he is. He's going to try and… he's actually going to…_

"Here you go, young'uns". Tom's voice broke the moment and a sleek blonde head snapped to the right, towards Tom, as a mop of unruly curls snapped equally fast left to the bartender. _Thank fuck. That was close. _

"Thanks Tom". Hermione said rather took quickly, it's a slightly higher than usual tone. _Too quickly…_ Draco thought as he glared at bartender for the interruption.

They ate in silence, neither risking a look at the other, consumed by their thoughts as lunch slowly diminished.

_What the fuck was that? Draco Malfoy conciliatory? No, there has to be something behind this. But those eyes, those gorgeous molten silver eyes were so genuine and looked almost close to… tears. Because of… me? What the fuck? Draco fucking Malfoy wanting to kiss me? What kind of backwards alternative dimension have I fell into? I bet Fred and George did something to him to wind me up for April Fools. Yes, that'll be it! _Sigh of relief. _Bloody Weasleys and their stupid fucking pranks; it'll be some sort of love potion. I'm gonna fucking kill those bloody weas… Wait! It's June. Not that they need an excuse for pranks but then… why?_

She chanced a sideways glance at the blonde man sitting beside her - former bully, former tormenter, former Death Eater, former arch nemesis; _wow, I had a real arch nemesis there for a while. _He seemed just as lost in his thoughts but not as pensive as she expected. She thought about some of the fictional arch nemeses she could remember as she finished her soup – Lex Luther from Superman, Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes, Thanos from all those bloody Marvel films Harry made her watch last year. _Does Draco really fit in with that lot? He used to – sort of! And when did I start calling him Draco? And why, for the love of Merlin, am I still thinking about Draco fucking Malfoy?_

**~DRAMIONE~**

Courtesy of his Godfather, Severus Snape, Draco had become quite skilled as an _'occlumens' _during his years at Hogwarts; it was necessary when living with a murderous, megalomaniac psychopath, prone to fits of unstable rage. Under the tutelage of his Godfather however, he had also mastered Legilemency: the ability to, in layman's terms, read minds, since the war. Usually he didn't bother using this skill but it came in handy occasionally, like right now.

_I have to have a look. She'll kill me if she knows I'm looking but she can't possibly know it's me. I'm sitting next to her and she isn't hexing me. She let me buy her lunch without any flicker to her wand. And after that moment, that eye contact, and she wasn't pulling away…; would she have let me kiss her? Fucking bastard bartender; I'm never coming here again. I wonder if I can get him fired._

Before attempting to slip into her mind, he wanted to test the waters, sense her mood; the last thing he wanted was to infuriate her more if she was already pissed off. Draco let his eyes shift slightly to his left. She was staring at her soup, almost expressionless, _if she's an occlumens too_, _I'm screwed_. _No, I can do this. She's a Gryffindor, she should respond well to bravery; even if she doesn't know I'm attempting it._

While not proficient at the combination of wandless and wordless magic, he'd managed it a few times and he had to manage it now. Saying the spell or holding his wand would tip her off and he couldn't risk that, not when he finally had the possibility of progress. _Ok. I can do this. It's time. Now! _He moved his hand as close to his dream witch as possible without touching and without being noticed; the fingers of his left hand, resting on the bar but pointing loosely in her direction. _She's so fucking close. Gods, I want to touch her._ He shook his head minutely, dislodging his poor timed yearnings. _Focus._ He shifted his glance to her without moving his head and thought very succinctly: _motus translatio_.

Nothing happened.

He twisted his hand a little anti clockwise, so his fingers pointed more towards her and tried again: _motus translatio._

Still nothing. _Bollocks! I need a distraction. Think Draco, think. _It took literally thirty seconds for his well-trained Slytherin mind to be just a little devious, and then for the first time in years, a sly smile crept onto his lips. It was bordering on his trademark smirk and he had to fight to remove it from his features as he turned to her and…

"Would you like another drink?" his face was the picture of calm indifference but his inner Slytherin grinned with all the smugness of a Cheshire cat as she jumped almost out of her skin and placed her hand over her heart.

That hand suddenly flung out toward him and batted him, not too lightly on the chest as she growled out his name from between her teeth.

"Sorry" he said barely containing himself from bursting out laughing. "But, would you… like another, I mean?"

He watched her think for a second. _Probably trying to think of an excuse not to_. Then his mouth dropped open and his eyebrows shot into his hairline as he watched her reach down the front of her slightly low-cut top, which showed the mildest hint of cleavage, _so sexy_, and slowly retrieve her wand. He tensed. _Here it comes. She's probably been planning it since she saw me. Gods, don't let her turn me into a ferret, I can't handle that smell again._

"_Tempus"_ she said softly, and he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. They both watched as two small balls of light shot from her wand and circled each other for a moment displaying on the bar and dissipating. _That would've been a good time to go for my wand. I'm an idiot._ Internally, he slapped his hand to his forehead and imagined his Godfather calling him a dunderhead.

"Yeah, ok. I have time".

You could have knocked Draco off his stool with a hippogriff feather as he looked at her smiling face. Heart beat quickening, he knew it was time act. His left hand went to his wand and he removed it from his ankle holder, pointing it at her ankles he repeated the spell in his mind: _motus translatio._ This time he felt it but had to work quickly to remain undiscovered. He put his wand back in its holder, looked up at her innocently and simply said "wrong side", before leaning to his right ankle to pull out his wallet.

**~DRAMIONE~**

Hermione could tell that he'd been nervous to ask; his voice had quivered unnaturally. It felt strange that even when you'd loathed someone for so long, the fact that you'd known them for over a decade meant you noticed things like a certain quiver in the vocal chords were equal to nerves. _What he has to be nervous about is beyond me. I do fancy another drink actually. I need to get dinner on for the girls tonight though. Hmmm, what time is it? Wand…_

Fishing her wand from her between her breasts, her phone was in there too; _maybe that's why it doesn't work_, Hermione cast a quick '_tempus'_ before returning her wand. Her eyes skimmed over Draco's face and she almost lost consciousness with the force it took to hold in her breath to stop from laughing. The almost translucently pale skin that usually sat so perfectly over his regal, slightly pointed features was was popping into a comical expression of shock and was _actually quite sweetly_ flushed. _I wonder if that's because of where I keep my wand. Surely not! It's hardly an uncommon location and every witch has a cleavage. Maybe he never considered I was a girl before; it took Ron long enough. Is Draco that dense too? Maybe I can find out; it's only 12.45, I have time. This could be fun…_

"Yeah ok, I have time". _Was that casual enough? Hmm… do I want to be casual, or shall I border on flirtatious and upgrade that flush to a beetroot? Start simple._ "Shall we make it a couple shots of fire-whiskey instead? The butterbeer isn't really taking the edge off the weirdness of you and I being civil." She gave him a half smile to let him know she really was attempting civility.

"You don't seem like a real drinker Granger but if you think you can handle it…" he knew it was a taunting co she was attempting to play nice but he really couldn't help it. She walked right into it.

"I can drink you under the table Malfoy, and I'll prove it." _ This is a bad idea!_ Again she retrieved her wand; called to Tom and asked him to bring over a bottle of Ogden's and start a tab. _If I can get him pissed, maybe he'll let something slip about why he's being so… nice. _She touched her wand to the enchanted tab parchment that Tom handed her and replaced her wand in her cleavage; a little more slowly than usual to see if he watched. He did. _Men! So easy to manipulate. Even Slytherin men._

"Damn, Granger. Challenge accepted." _This is gonna be fun; maybe I can get her sloshed enough for her to take me back to her place and… No. Don't get your hopes up Draco. It's still Hermione Granger._

The bastard bartender brought over a bottle of Ogden's finest and two shot glasses, which Hermione filled. She knocked hers straight back before handing him his and then set to refilling hers.

"You know that thing about Gryffindors and their pride?" she asked rhetorically, but he nodded anyway. "Well, one of the biggest things we take pride in is our ability to hold our liquor." She knocked back her second as he gulped and his first.

Draco refilled both glasses and decided to make this interesting…

"If that's the case, care to make this interesting?"

"What did you have in…" she stopped abruptly as a beautiful, silver does cantered through the window of the Leaky Cauldron and settled in the air before her. Ginny's excited voice came out began:

"_Can't wait HG. Honestly, we need to do this more often. What do you think of my new patronus form? I thought it would change when Harry and I got married but it's only changed this week. Luna is with me so we'll floo to yours together. Is your muggle friend still coming to? Oh, and before I forget, don't want to spring this on you last minute but I'm bringing Lavender with me. Ron insisted and as she's about to be my sister-in-law I can't exactly refuse. Sorry HG. Don't be mad at me. Love you sis. See you at 7."_

The silver does faded away and Hermione smiled. She had a feeling she knew the reason for the patronus changing and she was right, she didn't give a shit if 'Lav-Lav' had to be at her girls' night too.

"Fuck me, that girl can talk. What's happening tonight?"

"You have no idea, and it'll get worse tonight. We're having a bit of a girls' night. Wine flowing, gossip about guys, and Molly Weasley's famous cooking."

"Sounds interesting. Wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall. Say, Granger. Are you warded against bowtruckles?"

"Don't even think about it Malfoy. My flat is warded up the wazoo against everything. Especially…" she poked a finger into his chest, "ferrets." She flashed, her biggest, toothiest, Slytheriniest grin, and downed another shot.

"Okay, okay. I was joking. What happened to civility?"

"You're lucky it was only my finger I poked you with and not my wand. Now, let's finish off this bottle so I can head off. I have some prep to do."

"Oh, you're going? I thought we were gonna have some fun with this fire-whiskey." He looked a little crestfallen and Hermione felt a pang of that pity again. _Awwww, bless him. _

"I really do have some things to prep for Draco. I promise I'm not running out to get away from you. Maybe I was trying to think of something to get away when we first sat down but I really haven't had a bad time with you. C'mon, one for the road and then we can play our drinking game another time, yeah?"

"Okay, fine." He seemed to have recovered somewhat with her reassurance that she wasn't trying to escape him but still acted put out to have their afternoon cut short. "But, I'm holding you to that Granger. You owe me a date." He froze a little, realising what he'd said but Hermione ignored it and let him do the same.

They knocked back two more shots each before saying their goodbyes. Absent-mindedly, as if she'd been drinking with Harry or Ron, Hermione leaned in to Draco, wrapped her arms around his back and kissed his cheek. He stiffened a little but again she ignored it, _I'd probably do the same if he'd launched at me. Oops!_ "Floo home, don't apparate… you've had a few too many and you'll end up splinched else." She said as she pulled away from the hug.

"Yes mum" Draco said before turning right, toward the floo. He seemed to have retrieved his sarcasm from somewhere which had been hiding for most of the night.

"Arse" she called after him playfully as he walked toward the floo. He could practically hear her rolling her eyes but he turned back to face her, flashing his most brilliant smile.

"Didn't know you cared, Granger." _But I know now._

"Don't worry, I don't." _Do I?_

To that, he blew her a kiss across the pub and stepped into the floo.

_Oh shit, my phone._

Hermione dashed out the 'muggle world' door and checked her phone. Sure enough, there was a message from Jo saying she'd meet her at the Leaky Cauldron at 6.30. She wouldn't be able to see it right away but that didn't matter. It was only 5 minutes from Hermione's flat, situated over Flourish and Blotts so she could walk her through.

With the rest of her evening planned out, Hermione went home; excited about the night to come but with a gnawing feeling she didn't quite recognise that spiked every time she thought about Draco Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **

**19/02/19. I've made a few small edits this morning as I re-read this chapter in preparation on Chapter 3. Nothing substantial, just fleshing a few things out here and there.**

Girl's Night – Chapter 2

The second Draco stepped out of his floo, before he even dusted his robes of soot, he had to jump up and down on the spot like an excited schoolgirl; he 'whooped' and laughed, feeling an overwhelming sense of elation. It wasn't the most masculine thing he'd ever done but no-one saw and no-one heard so he really couldn't care less. He was reeling from the effects, the results of the stealthily applied empathy spell he'd cast on Hermione. Amazed, shocked, awed, that anyone can feel so many things all at once: trepidation, confusion, excitement, curiosity, apprehension, begrudging admiration and dare he even believe it, arousal. _I doubt even she's aware of that one._ _Could she intentionally want me? She certainly didn't act like it._

Her every emotion had flooded into his: the good, the bad, and the downright erotic; it had all hit his senses hard, shaking everything he believed about the Gryffindor swot. It was hard to know which emotions were specifically because of his presence but he was pretty sure those last three were.

_Shame I didn't have a chance to get into that brilliant mind of hers. I wonder what thoughts had prompted that arousal… I don't care as long as she likes me. And she does. She likes me. Granger actually likes me. Doubt she'll admit it anytime soon; not with all that damn Gryffindor pride. And, Merlin knows, that witch is stubborn but she was flirting back. I need to know if that's her idea of subtle because if it is, coaxing out her wanton side should be fun. Now, how do I get into that party of hers?_

Draco paced in front of his floo as he considered his options…

The direct approach: just floo to her flat and see what she does? _The worst she'll do is hex me and kick me out. Or slap me again. No, I can still feel the sting of that sometimes._

The Slytherin approach: _Magic. There are those 'extendable ears' things from the Weasley shop; at least I could hear if she talks about me. What if she sticks to her time honoured method of bitching about me? I've heard enough of that. With a girl's night though, and wine; she might open up a bit. No, I had to open my big mouth and say I wanted to be there so she'll be on the lookout. What else? Disillusionment…? Ah! Got it!_

The stealth approach: _With Ginny going, I shouldn't have too much of an issue convincing Potter to join me in eavesdropping; he will not want her spilling their bedroom secrets without knowing what she's saying. That invisibility cloak should be just the ticket._

Mind made up, Draco makes his way to the brewing area of his kitchen to make a fresh batch of 'sober up'. He wasn't feeling overly inebriated but socialising with Potter always took effort, even if they had marked a 'permanent truce in hostility' for the sake of keeping the peace and neither of them wanting to be constantly looking over their shoulders anymore. Then there was the coven of drunken witches, probably talking about racy subjects and spilling naughty secrets: _I'm going to need my wits about me._

**~DRAMIONE~**

Hermione left the Leaky Cauldron and walked the 412 steps to the entryway at the side of Flourish and Blotts; she still didn't know why she counted the steps; it just sort of happened. She turned into the entryway and made her way up the fire-exit style stairs that led to her flat. Disabling her wards, well most of them, she unlocked the door with her own spell; '_Alohamora'_ was too well known, and stepped inside. The familiar scent of home captured her senses: very old books, brand new parchment, and thick candle smoke with a hint of vanilla; _mmm, home._ She felt her shoulders slump considerably and wondered exactly how tense Draco still made her. She hadn't even realised she was still tense around him, especially towards the end of their lunch. _Not that anyone could blame me. He's hardly the poster child for reconciliation; but then, am I? Granted I've made peace with Snape; it made sense to considering what he sacrificed for the Order; the fact that I saved his life in the Shrieking Shack helps too I suppose. It's hard to hold a grudge against someone when you stop them dying._

_I suppose I've given up the hatred of Draco's parents too_, she thought as she removed her cloak and headed down the short corridor for her lounge. _Narcissa came to me personally to apologise for the attack her sister inflicted on me at their Manor. She even healed the scar for me; thank fuck! I never got anything done with all that endless bleeding. And as for Lucius… well, he's always going to be the back-handed politician, it was good of him to set up that new wing at St Mungo's in my name – even if it was to somewhat redeem himself. That man really knows how to spin. No wonder he managed to keep himself out of Askaban._

Hermione dropped her beaded bag (which she never got around to removing the 'undetectable extension charm' from) on the large, plush, Gryffindor red, corner sofa with golden corded embroidery and accents when she entered the lounge. _You can take the girl out of Hogwarts but you can't take the Gryffindor out of the girl,_ she thought wistfully as she lovingly smoothed a hand over the fabric. She followed the beaded bag onto the sofa, but at the other end; legs up, she scooted her bum down a bit and let curled in on herself leaning against the soft, comfortable cushions which had the titles of all her favourite books appliqued on (a Yule present from Harry and Ginny last year). She removed her wand from her chest and set an alarm for an hour later, before dosing off peacefully, meditating on the exact depth of the liquid silver of Draco's eyes.

**~DRAMIONE~**

_Well, better get this part over with_, Draco thought. He didn't have a lot of time to convince Potter to help him and as much as he hoped Harry wouldn't want Ginny discussing their bedroom delights, he didn't really know them well enough to assume it. He opened the fire grate, took a pinch of emerald powder from his antique silver floo pot; _mother always was ostentatious with her gifts_, and threw it into the fire, as he knelt at the hearth. He leaned into the emerald flames and called out '12 Grimmauld Place'.

After a slightly dizzying whirl of flames around his head and a sudden stop that would've knocked him over if he hadn't been kneeling, he was greeted with the sight of a medium size library, half the size of that at Manor, but decent all the same. _I bet Granger has read every book in here twice; the second time to make corrections to the author's words._ He let himself smile at the idea before remembering his 'mission'.

"Potter", he yelled out. It was considered rude to floo directly into someone else's home and the etiquette that had been ingrained in him since birth, he wasn't about to be impolite; especially as he really needed this favour. He called out twice more after a minute of waiting before Harry finally entered the library. He was wearing quidditch gear, holding his broom and looked windswept… _hmmm, perhaps a friendly game might convince him to help me._

"Malfoy?" Potter seemed taken aback by the presence of his old rival seeking him out. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Do you mind if I come through? I need a favour but kneeling in the hearth to ask it is a bit unbecoming." _I still have my pride._

"I suppose. I'm not making any promises though." Potter replied. _Of course not._

Draco pulled himself out of the fireplace and stood. The return from a floo call never had the same dizzying effects as making one. _I wonder why. Hermione would know._ He sighed with longing and a sappy smile swept over his lips at the thought of her adorable know-it-all tendencies, _Gods, I'm pathetic_; he attempted to school his features, remembering who he was about to encounter, grabbed a handful of floo powder, stepped into the flames, called out 'Potter residence' and dropped the powder into the embers below.

The emerald flames glowed and rose from the embers, swirling around him and whizzing him passed at least forty fireplaces before stopping at the Grimmauld Place library. Draco stepped forward and slapped the dust from his robes, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth to remove the sickening love-sick smile which hadn't really faltered in his attempts to remove it. He hadn't expected Potter to wait right there for him and it was a hasty move to conceal his feelings, rather than being able to do it slowly, _or well_. His old Quidditch rival eyed him suspiciously before heading towards the library door.

"We'll go through to the kitchen. Tea or coffee?" _That was easier than I thought. Potter doesn't know how to be 'nice' to me. What's he up to? Well, I better be pleasant enough back._

"Coffee… please." Draco stated quietly, like the ability to have manners was new concept, even though his mother had trained him in more etiquette than should be humanly possible to know. It was really still only a chore when it came to Potter. _Being nice to Gryffindors sucks; except Granger._

As they reached the kitchen, Harry filled a kettle with water and popped it on the stove top, clicking his fingers to light a flame underneath. He turned to Draco and gestured, awkwardly, to the eight-seater oak table.

"So what's this favour?" he asked as he returned his gaze to the counter to ready the mugs. "You must be desperate if you're after my help. The great Draco Malfoy lowering his standards to beg a Gryffindor for assistance; this has to be eating you up inside." _Bastard Potter loves this. He's never going to help me._

"I can hear the smugness in your tone, you know? It doesn't quite rival mine though. Bet you're smirking too. In fact I know it." _Gods, I hate this tosser. _"And, I know because I'd be ten times worse if you were coming to me for help."

"Oh, I don't doubt it. You always were a smug git."

"Thanks Potter. Love you too," his own smirk hitting his lips at the banter. He found, when these occasional back'n'forth slagging matches occurred from time to time, that he'd strangely missed their rivalry from school. It was boring being so pleasant all the time and falling in line with what one was supposed to be. There was no real ill will left between the pair of seekers anymore, they just sniped at each for the sake of it; to feel nostalgic. Potter had become something of a frenemy. _Weird._

"So, this favour then…?" The smugness was still there, and a half-smirk, as Potter brought over the mugs of coffee and sat opposite, beckon over a sugar pot and small milk jug.

"Right. Yeah. The thing is… this 'get together' Granger's having. I wanted to –"

"How on earth do you know about that?" Potter interrupted, suspiciously. He didn't look at his coffee companion as he spooned sugar into his drink and poured milk.

Draco sighed. _I suppose I'll have to tell him something resembling the truth._

"I bumped into her in the Leaky – _sounds reasonable; his never going to guess I was following her_. We had lunch – _less likely but still within the realms of believable, I think_. Your wife sent her patronus reply while I was there." _That's enough truth. Hopefully._

"Hmmm. Ok." He still seemed suspicious but gestured for Draco to continue.

The Slytherin took a deep breath and considered how to phrase this. There was no point beating around the bush; he needed Potter's trust for him to go along with this. _The truth it is then, minus the ulterior motives of getting Granger all to myself, eventually._ _What would Hermione do in this situation?_ _Courage!_ _Ok, think like a Gryffindor._

"Well, Granger said something about a girl's night in. Wine, gossip, etcetera. Thought it might be fun to eavesdrop. Thing is I've got no way of getting there without an insider. She pretty much told me directly not to bother trying as she had the whole flat… 'warded up the wazoo' I believe was the phrase she used."

"You're can't be serious." Harry let out a huge burst of laughter that Draco found almost insulting. "That's crazy, mate. Even I can't gate crash one of Hermione's shindigs. Believe me, I've tried. The last time I tried was six months ago, I tried to sneak my head in through the floo and ended up with tits for a week. She said, and I quote 'If you want to join in, you'll keep those until my next girl's night. No men allowed.' You're out of luck, mate. Sorry."

"Shit. You were my only hope Potter." Draco said dejectedly. He felt his stomach drop and felt a wave of defeat fall over him. _Bollocks._ And, it dawned on him, he was too eager for this; even Potter would pick up on that. His cheeks thinged with colour as he realised he was showing a little more truth than planned. _Double bollocks._

"Why do you even want to spy? They all turn into a bunch of cackling old crones who can barely stand up with how much booze they get through. All they talk about is the wizards they fancy and the 'length of his broomstick'. Even on just a night out, Gin is always saying to Hermione about me keeping her 'flying all night'. It's bloody embarrassing."

Draco raised his eyebrows at the not so subtle references and Harry shrugged, as if to say, 'what did you expect? I am the chosen one'. _Smug git._

"I was thinking maybe about that marvellous cloak of yours?"

"Tried it. She has three permanent wards to disable concealments… ones she invented herself. I can get through them but the cloak stays outside. I think she actually created one of them specifically for my cloak. She's a sneaky little witch when she wants to be. Don't tell her I said this but she'd have done well in Slytherin." Harry sounded both impressed by the achievements of his best friend and irritated that he couldn't beat them. "It's a side effect from the war. She fears a surprise attack constantly. She's not jumpy like she used to be but it's taken a long time and I think it's only because her wards are stronger than what Hogwarts has."

"Wow. I knew she was talented, she beat me in every class at school, and I'm fucking amazing, as you know Potter."

"Sure, Malfoy." Potter conceded sarcastically.

"But, if she's creating her own wards that strong, she's surpassed even my opinion of impressive." _Shit. Didn't mean to say that._

Harry's eyebrows rose in question at that but he seemed to think better of it and went back to his exposition. _Thank fuck!_

"Well, after Dolohov; then your crazy bitch of an Aunt, she got kinda obsessed with protections. She was impressed with how McGonagall got the statues at the castle to defend it. She has stone lions outside her flat… never cross them."

"I really need to apologise for all that. Especially after she got me out of a sentence is Askaban. And insisted I go back to Hogwarts for my last year. I really do owe her."

This time, Potter didn't let it lie.

"I think that's probably a good idea. I'm surprised to hear you say it though. Do you like her or something?"

_Bollocks. How do I get around this? Evasively. Postpone the inevitable._

"Or something." Draco responded, attempting to sound non-committal; but he felt his face warm a little and assumed there was a pinkness to his cheeks that would rival Grangers from earlier. Potter smirked, knowingly. _Shit. Is that really what those smirks look like? No wonder everyone thought I was a prick. Although, I pull it off better, I'm sure._

"C'mon, Malfoy. Out with it. I'll try and help you with this crazy scheme, _if_ you admit it."

Draco sighed and slumped, dropping his head into his hands on the table. _This can't be happening. How am I even considering confessing all this stuff to Potter. I need to hear her say it though. I need to know if I've got a real shot._

"Fine." He said, without changing his position. "I've had a 'thing' for Granger for years. It started in sixth year, maybe even before. Probably when she slapped me in third year; I'm sure you don't need reminding of that. It certainly made me take a bit more notice"

"I was surprised she did it, she hadn't been particularly violent up until then but you always riled her, especially after what you called her in second year." Draco lifted his head and had the grace to look sheepish. "But it's not like you didn't deserve it. You were a prick to her and you know it, not to mention being a bastard about Buckbeak."

"Yeah, yeah; I know. I didn't like that she was besting me in every class. When I said that 'thing' in second year, I'd just found out she topped me in a potions quiz. Even with my Godfather teaching the class, I couldn't best her. Father was pissed at me for being outshone by a muggleborn, I just snapped. Even when I used to think that word, I hardly said it." Draco kept his eyes on the table, all this confessing was embarrassing but he needed to get Potter on side. "As for the Buckbeak thing, I was embarrassed. You, 'Saint Bloody Potter' had ridden the damn beast; I wanted a go, I'd have loved it, really wanted to in fact. I'd sort of forgotten about the bowing thing and just wanted a go. When it attacked me, I didn't know what to do. So I returned to habit and told Father."

Harry nodded, though Draco didn't see. He'd suspected as much sometimes, when he was feeling understanding.

"Okay, look…" Draco looked up. "I can't promise anything but there might be a way I can get us in. Truth be told I've been dying to know what they actually talk about anyway; might be quite enlightening. Just be prepared for a bit more embarrassment too, yeah?"

"Thanks… Ha-a-rr-ry." Draco attempted to not say Potter for the first time in his life. It was the least he could do really.

"Struggling with that, are you?" Harry said, almost breathlessly, trying and failing to hold in his laughter and surprise.

Draco shook his head with a mixture of embarrassment and amusement, thankful that Harry let it drop as he shared his plan to invade Granger's girls' night.

"Come on through to the library, _Draco"_; he said with so much inflection and sarcasm, Draco was _almost _impressed. "There's a few spells I need to look up." Getting up, Harry led his new 'partner in crime' to the library.

_This should be fun _they both thought simultaneously.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, I got a bit LEMONY in this chapter; okay, okay, I got a lot LEMONY. I don't usually write in the vein of overtly citrusy but this felt necessary for the story. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 3

It took over an hour for Hermione to relax enough to give in to her heavy eyelids. Alone in her living room, except for Crookshanks curled up at the other end of the sofa, she let go of her mental inhibitions; drifting from sleepy imaginings to heated molten silver eyes, to unintelligible fantasy. In sleep, she allowed her logic to rest; she allowed her body to feel. And as she relinquished control of her faculties, the magic she controlled with equal fervour was released into the aether, free of her chains…

And it was heading for Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

_Hermione heard the 'whoosh' of her floo and stood from her resting place on the sofa. She turned, expecting to see the girls starting to arrive but was extremely surprised to find…_

"_Draco? What are you doing here?" her voice sounded a touch croaky and she cleared her throat._

"_I couldn't stay away, Granger. I haven't thought about anything but you since I saw you earlier; longer than that really, much longer. I was called here like you are the siren of my heart. Hermione, I… I need you!"_

_He crossed the room in a matter of seconds and looked so much like he was going to devour her, but he hesitated. She however didn't; barely giving him a moment to react; she threw her arms around his shoulders, clasped her hands behind his neck and pulled his lips to hers. Draco reacted immediately and his hands dived to her as she devoured his mouth, insisting access with her tongue. His left palm wound around her waist, his right diving into her sleep-mussed hair and fisting around her lustrous mane of chestnut curls. He held her face to his, opening his mouth to her and joining her tongue in a dance of seduction._

_The kiss was fevered, as if they had both waited years for the opportunity to devour each other; it was passionate and breath-taking but it wasn't enough, she wanted more, she wanted it harder; what she wanted was to feel his mouth slam against hers, she wanted him to be so overcome with desire that he lost all control, so much so that he couldn't help himself. She wanted to ravished, claimed, taken._

_His lips felt amazing, hot and insistent, commanding but not overpowering, letting her set the pace but the pace was driving her crazy. His hand moved from her hair and down her back, tantalisingly slowly and rested on her other hip as he slowed the kiss, pulling back slightly to allow them to breath; _'_Enough' she thought, as the need to move on to more became just shy of unbearable. She rolled her hips against him and seeming to catch on to her need quickly, he moved his hands to her rear, squeezed the light curve of her supple cheeks lightly; she couldn't hold back a second longer, she needed him. Now! _

_She whimpered with increasing desire at the friction his squeeze caused, which brought her into much closer contact with his mouth-wateringly hardened groin. Her kiss travelled, to the corner of his mouth, across to his cheek, down to his jaw; all the while pressing herself against his steely erection, rolling her hips to hear his intake of breath and the surprised curses of 'Fuck, Granger'; each time he cursed, she moved her mouth further on its quest, aiming all the while for just below his right ear._

_She kissed and nipped and licked until his breathing had accelerated to panting and his grip on her bum tightened._

"_Mmmmmm," she allowed him to hear her pleasure at the increased pressure of his hands, and added in a breathy, lustful voice: "I'm not going to break, Draco. Take me."_

Giving voice to her desire, admitting her lust, her need, finally allowed the magic she had unintentionally released to reach its full potential. The urgency of what she craved devastated the walls, the barriers of her mind, allowing full access to the unsuspecting mind of a certain blond Slytherin.

**~DRAMIONE~**

At Grimmauld Place, Harry led Draco into the library and summoned three books, wordlessly, which landed softly on the table near the doorway. He took his seat and looked at the other man.

"Well, sit down. We don't have long to get a handle on these spells."

Draco took a seat and picked up the top book: Astral Projection, Bi-location and Outer-Body Experiences. Eyebrow raised, questioningly, he returned his gaze to The Boy Who Lived (Twice).

"Ok. So here's my idea." Harry took a breath, hoping Hermione wouldn't kill him for this. "On Hermione's mantelpiece, there's a photograph from our Hogwarts graduation. Remember the one from the _Prophet_?"

Draco nodded.

"Well, I found this book about a week after the Battle of Hogwarts; technically, 'Mione found it for me when I told her what had happened when Riddle supposedly 'killed me'. That girl and books; she's like a walking library."

They both laughed.

"How does this relate to us getting into her flat?" Draco couldn't fathom the correlation.

"Well, the book says you can project your consciousness into a magical image of yourself… like the one on 'Mione's mantelpiece. It's similar to how the Headmaster portraits work in Minerva's office at Hogwarts… except we're still alive. We stay here, but our magic carries our consciousness to that portrait on her fire and we can watch from the photograph."

Intently discussing their slightly underhanded scheme, the magic of their quarry had reached i's quarry unnoticed and as the wisps of purple energy curled around Draco, Harry continued.

"The wards won't recognize a 'break-in' as such because technically nobody has attempted to pass the wards. It's only our…" Harry stopped when Draco's eyes glazed over. "Oi! Are you listening to me?"

No answer.

Draco's eyes were open, fixed and glassy. Harry waved his hand in front his companions face. No movement. "Hey!" Harry's voice rose, both irritated at Draco's lack of focus and apprehensive that something had actually happened to him. "Earth to Malfoy… come in, Malfoy."

With still no response, Harry's warring feelings ceased, and worry won.

He first went for muggle health checks: breathing, check; pulse, check. He breathed a sigh of relief; at least the ferret was alive. Maybe I can piss him off enough to come round…

"Hey, ferret. You know, I could beat you to a snitch blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back, right?" _If he can hear me, that'll bring him out of anything._

Still nothing.

_Shit. He's catatonic._

"_Accio_ healer diagnostic spell book"

**~DRAMIONE~**

"The wards won't…" Potter's voice somehow stopped. _His lips are still moving._

_Hey! Where did he go? Where am I?_

Potter! Draco attempted to say, but his mouth seemed to not be in his control as sudden green flames surrounded him… _a floo?_

He stepped forward – mentally, although he didn't know that yet – and surveyed his surroundings.

A cosy living room, a huge corner sofa with a woman on lay upon it, emerging from sleep. _Hermione?_

He thought of what Harry had just said about the photograph on her mantelpiece and spun back to the fireplace he had just exited and took in the photographs that littered the oak wood shelf of the mantle. There were four in total: a still image of a couple around thirty with a pre-adolescent Hermione Granger, maybe about nine years old, in front of a Christmas tree; an image of about fifteen teenagers, including Hermione, Potter and Weasley, but it was hard to make them out, obscured as they were by the many silvery wisps of patroni. The third image was just the 'Golden Trio' as they had been so aptly named, by the looks of it, it had been taken just before Potter entered the maze for the Tri-Wizard tournament in fourth year; Draco saw himself in the background of that image, but he was too far back to see what he was actually doing. Not that it mattered, he remembered. _That was the first time I checked out Granger's arse._

The last image was the one Harry had mentioned; the Graduation Assembly. All forty-one students of that year, those who were naturally in seventh year and those who had returned to repeat seventh year due to the Death Eater teachers that had invaded the faculty the year before, or those who had been on the run.

Draco smiled as he found Hermione in picture; Gryffindor red robe for top of the class, everyone else in black; endless curls exploding from under her matching graduation cap with gold tassel. He saw himself directly behind her in the image, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply: _old books and vanilla_, he thought.

"Draco? What are you doing here?" her voice was adorably raspy with sleep.

His own voice was answering her, he could hear it. But he definitely hadn't answered her; he didn't even know how he was there.

"I couldn't stay away, Granger. I haven't thought about anything but you since I saw you earlier; longer than that really, much longer. I was called here like you are the siren of my heart. Hermione, I… I need you!"

_Well, damn. That was direct; almost a Gryffindor declaration. Wait! What?_

His mental deliberations halted in an instant as he felt himself move closer to the sleep mussed witch of his dreams. _Dreams, hmmm! There's something in that._ A brief hesitation on his part, '_as if'_; and then…

_Heaven! I've died and gone to the giant Hogwarts in the sky. That has to be it; because_ she was kissing him, insistently, like a woman possessed. Her tongue felt every curve, hollow and recess of his mouth, exploring and savouring at the same time as her lips moved against his and her hands held him close.

He felt her in his hands, the curve of her hip as his own hand snaked around her back; the mountain of curls grasped in his fist that urged their faces, their mouths to never break contact. He felt delirious; heady with desire, craving more; but he wasn't in control of his body. He never imagined she could be this wanton, not for him; the Gryffindor Princess hot for the Slytherin Prince; who'd have guessed?

_Finally_! His hands were moving somewhere more to his taste; Draco was a bum-man, all the way and Granger had one hell of an arse. He felt himself squeeze her delightfully pert backside and his cock twitched. _This is gonna be hot, even if I am only along for the ride! _

_Damn Granger…_ her mouth was moving, deliciously slowly across his face, cheek, jaw, neck; she was rolling her hips, grinding against him… _'Fuck, Granger'_, he thought; surprised when it actually came from his mouth too, in a gasp. He wanted to squeeze her arse tighter, he tried and felt her soft flesh contort under his fingers and then he heard her…

"Mmmmmm", she moaned. Her voice breathless and full of wanting, she added…

"I'm not going to break, Draco. Take me."

At the sound of her wanton demand, Draco felt inextricable power wash over him; magic he had never felt before. It crackled with sensual potency, flooding his mind with intoxicating awareness; Hermione was dreaming, of him. Somehow, her voice had broken a ward, or a seal or something and had granted him access to act on her desires, on his desires. _Well then, what magic wants, magic gets!_

_Hermione was lost in the moment of her deepest fantasies; her mind relishing the feel of his him beneath her fingers, her lips; his arousal was hot and hard against her and it seemed that finally, neither of them was holding back._

_His hands moved to the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head; being a dream, he attempted to exercise some control over it as he turned back to stare at her. His mouth dropped open to realize it had worked… she was braless. He dived for her breast, practically drooling for the pebbled pink tip of the luscious, creamy mound. He licked, he sucked, he nibbled; she through her head back and groaned._

_His mouth felt exquisite, she had never felt so much heat burning through her in her life, and when he switched to her left side, his fingertips tracing delicately over her side, caressing her collarbone and dropping slowly to deftly roll her right nipple, "Oh, Gods! Draco!"_

_Seemingly hearing his name was his breaking point; he pulled back, waved his wand and their clothes vanished in an instant. Naked, breathless, they stared at each other, both unhindered by modesty, regaining their breath, taking each other in._

_Now, she urged him mentally. Fuck me, now._

"_I've wanted this for so long. You're my dream, Granger."_

"_I don't need your sweet words right now, Draco. I just need you… your hands, your mouth, your cock. Fuck me, Malfoy!" _

_Malfoy looked stunned. Given their situation, that surprised her but she knew what would snap him out of it. She let her gaze travel over him once more, her eyes lingering at his impressive erection, and slowly walked toward him. She stopped, directly in front of him, grinned and dropped to her knees._

_His eyes seemed to widen further as her confident hand wrapped around the base of his shaft firmly, angling him for her ease before running her tongue from base to tip, along the underside of his steely hardness. She heard his deep intake of breath as his head fell back and the smirk that formed on her lips, she knew he'd have been proud of._

'_Got you now, Slytherin' she thought as her tongue circled his bulbous leaking head, dipping into the weeping slit to enjoy the taste of his arousal. She pumped her hand along his heated length, her other hand joining in the fun to massage his sac while she slowly opened her mouth to envelop him within, sucking lightly at first while her tongue flattened and flexed where his twitching shaft met it's domed end._

_She played for several minutes, alternating her hands between pumping up and down as she focused her mouth and tongue around the pulsing, deliciously leaking head, and taking him deeply into her mouth to push at her throat while her hands caressed his hips, his thighs, his balls._

_Draco was panting; savouring every sensation her ministrations were evoking; barely hanging on to his own release. He knew she'd started to knock him out of his stupor at her sexy demand but she seemed completely lost in her task, enjoying herself thoroughly._

_And she was. She knew he was reacting with moans, groans, hitched breaths and curses but they were lost on her; she was thoroughly delighting in his flavour and feel beneath her tongue but then…_

"_Gods, witch. I can't hold on much longer." He ground out, at the end of his restraint._

_She released him slowly, with a 'pop' and kissed her way back up his body… grabbing his gorgeous tight bum to steady herself, and just for the hell of it… her lips moved languidly along his hip bones, up his treasure trail (how novel), licking the defined creases of his impressively chiselled abs, remembering the deliciousness of his slightly salted, sweat-laden skin before standing slightly with a squeeze to his bum reminiscent of his to hers earlier. She licked at his left nipple, hearing him gasp – she loved that sound – before pulling back and snapping a mock bite just short of making contact. He flinched, minutely and she repeated her actions on the other side… he flinched on that side too and she smirked._

_She complete her trail of kisses over his shoulder and back up his neck, enjoying his shiver before settling back under his ear and licking along the outer curve. "Take me to bed, Draco." She whispered and she relished his unmistakable shudder._

"Take me to bed, Draco" she whispered into his ear.

He really couldn't help shuddering. Her words sent a fresh wave of fire through his entire body and his cock, already painfully hard, seemed to tighten even more with enhanced engorgement.

Draco had been shocked by her declaration of wanting his hands, his mouth, his cock, her wanting him to just fuck her already. He'd been stunning into silence, into stillness by her demand; and he'd been completely floored when she knelt in front of him and then that mouth. The little lioness knew how to give good head… Merlin, he'd never felt so worshipped and he wanted to return the favour…

He leaned in to claim her mouth once more; that sinfully wicked mouth and lifted her from the ground to wrap her legs around him. He hands braced on his shoulders and he felt her fingertips softly stroking the back of his neck; his back stiffened at the sensation and he shivered a little, his cock twitching at the added turn on.

The twitch felt his weeping cock, brush against her soft, wet folds; fuck she was so wet. He needed to taste her.

Never breaking contact with her lips, deepening the kiss as they went, he strode to her bedroom; being inside her head must have provided him the knowledge of which direction to take and gently placed her on the bed.

She looked a little put out; maybe he should have thrown her on the bed. _Does my little witch like it rough? Hmmm!_

He lowered himself to his knees at the end of the bed and reached for her hips, pulling her bum to the edge; her glistening, dripping, sweet, pink folds were before him; he licked his lips, holding onto his own anticipation. He took a deep breath, inhaling her sweet scent of arousal and released it softly from his lungs directly onto her clenching sex. She wriggled and bucked at the feeling and then, to his sheer, unadulterated delight, she begged him.

"Draco… please…" she whimpered. "Please…" she breathed, all her desperation tied up in that one word.

As much as he enjoyed her pleading, he couldn't wait anymore himself and he lifted her legs one at a time, to hook her knees over his shoulders, set his left hand at her hip, stroking up and down her side as he descended.

His tongue ran a single ceremonial lick from her dripping entrance to the tip of his slit; slowing at her pulsing bundle of nerves to circle once before continuing up. She jerked in response, her thighs instinctively tightening around his head; he loved it. She was delicious; decadent; moreish and he lapped at her altar as his thumb played at her final nerves… she was so close, he could hear her gasping, crying his name, begging above him, but he was lost in the flavour of her. It wasn't until he heard her declare her impending orgasm that he pulled his devilish tongue away and stood.

She hadn't quite noticed he'd moved yet, her head thrown back, eyes closed tight, panting. Good. He grabbed her legs by the ankles and wrapped them around his hips, lined himself up and slammed into her with every ounce of mental force he possessed. She gasped at the sudden intrusion as he reached balls-deep status.

"Oh, Draco. You're amazing." She breathed. He smirked.

He retreated almost completely before slamming into her a second time and feeling her inner walls lock onto him with vice like strength. "Damn, you're tight."

"Make me come, Malfoy" she challenged. He knew it was a challenge with her change in his name, and he accepted with pleasure.

"Your wish is my demand, Granger." He gifted as he let go of restraint and slammed into her with abandon, knowing as it was dream, he wasn't going to leave her sore.

It took what felt like seconds before he felt the tell-tale fluttering of her walls as her body went completely rigid and again – but this time unbidden – she clamped onto his cock, squeezing him so tightly, his eyes crossed with the force of his restraint to hold on, but the scream of pleasure that came from her, his name echoing in both their minds was his undoing and her release milked his own from him.

Hermione woke from her slumber with a start. _Wow._

She looked down to find herself in her bedroom, naked; she was laying on her back, her bum at the base of the bed, her knees bent down and her feet on the floor; her whole body moist with sweat and a pleasant soreness between her legs. _What on earth was that?_

Draco blinked rapidly before opening his eyes.

His mouth gaped open. He was staring into the faces of Potter, his little Weaslette wife and, his mother?

"Potter, what happened?" he asked, incredulously. "And why, is my mother here?"

"You were in a trance, mate. Completely catatonic. I couldn't pull you out of it. I panicked. Wasn't sure if you had some random condition or something. Had to call your mother to make sure it wasn't something life threatening."

"Oh." He said simply. "How long was out?" he asked. Wondering how real the whole thing had been in his head.

"About an hour, according to Harry." Weaslette piped up.

"We were just about to take you to St Mungo's, darling." His mother's soft melodious voice confirmed.

"I'm fine. My mind just got transported somewhere else." He tried to say evasively.

"Where?" Potter asked unable to beat down his curiosity.

_Shit. Erm…_

"You don't want to know. Listen, thanks for the concern and everything" he said to the room at large, "but Harry and I were planning a bit of a 5-a-side Quidditch game for next weekend and as we seem to have lost an hour, we could do with getting back to it." Draco was good at thinking on his feet.

"Ooooo, I'll play. It'll be fun to thrash you Malfoy. Ameteur." She gave him a teasing grin and he laughed.

"What about you mother? I know you weren't the sportiest of the Black sisters' but-"

"I don't think so, sweetheart but maybe ask your father. He hasn't played since his Hogwarts days."

"I'll think about it." He said with an eye roll. "Well, I'll see you for dinner tomorrow, mother."

Harry walked Narcissa Malfoy to the floo and she gave him a peck on each cheek, thanking him for contacting her; _always with the etiquette_, Harry thought.

When he returned to the kitchen, Ginny excused herself too, to ready herself for going to Hermione's.

Once they were alone again, Draco cut off the questions before they could start…

"Seriously, Potter. You _really_ do not want to know. Back to infiltration plans?"

Harry pulled a frustrated face but nodded. "Right."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Firstly I'd like to say thank you for your reviews so far. I am not new to writing fictions for myself but I am new to publishing them and having them read by anyone other than friends and family. I appreciate the support of everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed this story so far.**

**Secondly, I only have a general idea of where this story is going to end up, the details, nuances and sub text I'm making up as I go along. With that in mind, I will keep writing until it finds a natural completion. **

**Now, I will not keep you in suspense any longer. On with the show…**

Chapter 4

It had been two hours since Hermione awoke from the _completely random 'ferret dream' _as she had dubbed it until she had more time to ponder its meaning. She couldn't exactly lie to herself, not really, not after that; she did find Draco Malfoy ridiculously attractive; fancied the pants off him to be honest. _What does that fucking say about me? Given our past, how fucked up am I to want to…?_

She sighed, accepting the one flaw her mind seemed to have. Despite the brilliance of its ability to retain an innumerable amount of facts, it was traitorous. The moment she didn't want to think about something, her mind turned on her and would not concentrate on anything else. She sighed again, just to reiterate her displeasure with her most prized – and most annoying right now – organ.

Hermione decided to succumb to the insistence of her brain to focus on Malfoy as she went about readying herself for her guests. In fact it gave her an idea; she was only expecting four friends – Ginny, Luna, Lavender (ugh) and her muggle friend, Jo. It was too intimate with her mind so distracted, she needed to turn it into a real party – ladies only of course; if she invited the guys Draco would turn up and she couldn't trust her reactions to him after that dream. He might try to show up by anyway, he said he might. _Not a chance he can get through my wards – ha! Even Minerva wants them for Hogwarts. I really should let her in on them. Hmmm, Minerva…_

Hermione moved toward her small study; there was barely room to swing a kneazle but she made do. Two walls, lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves, a large L-shaped desk lined a third wall before turning a corner and breaking into the middle of the room, and an owl perch by the window that looked out over Diagon Alley. She really didn't need anything else to take up permanent residence in the room, which she was thankful for, because it wouldn't fit anyway.

She sat at her desk and penned a note to Minerva, hoping at the very least, her former professor would take the opportunity to try and get her wards out of her even if not to let her hair down. The Headmistress of Hogwarts really needed to attempt the latter; it was a stressful job and Hermione would help anyway she could…

_Dear Minerva,_

_I know this short notice but I would like to invite you and the rest of the female staff to a bit of a party at my home tonight. Of course I know Pomona, Septima and Irma but haven't had chance to meet your new DADA Professor; what was her name again? Oh, and please ask Poppy to come too; with hangover potions, hehe_

_It was going to be just a few friends but I'm expanding the guest list. I need a good laugh and as much as I want to see you, watching you get slightly inebriated will provide some much need entertainment for me and some much needed relaxation I am sure you need._

_Please say you'll come. Any time after 7 will be fine._

_Love and respect_

_Hermione_

Hermione walked to the owl perch where her two owls, Titania and Puck, sat; always a fan of literature, especially the whimsical kind she indulged in privately, she had named her owls for characters from her favourite Shakespearean play, _A Midsummer Night's Dream._

She was just about to affix the letter to the leg of Titania the Tawny when she stopped and glanced at the clock on the wall; 4.25pm. Titania was very fast and amazing at long journeys but Hermione doubted whether even the golden feathered wings of her exceptional avian friend would manage to reach Scotland in a couple of hours. She sighed and resorted to magic.

After the war, Hermione and Minerva McGonagall had become close friends; the former spending the entire summer of that year helping to restore the castle and taking lunch and tea breaks with the professors, sharing her stories from the horcrux hunt she had undertaken with Harry and Ron. Over time the respect they had for one another had become a tight and well-developed friendship which Hermione was very proud of and she suspected Minerva was too; especially when the Headmistress had given her the password to her enchanted in-tray which was usually reserved only for the other professors.

Hermione unscrolled the note, a scroll was really only suitable for owl post and folded it neatly to place it in an envelope, which she sealed with her self-designed otter insignia before addressing it simply: _Minerva._

Pointing her wand at the letter, she cast the necessary spell to ready the letter for this type of delivery: "_traditio servitium augurium__"_; then touched her wand to the parchment envelope and uttered the password: _"Aberdeen Angus"_. Hermione chuckled as the parchment glowed purple and vanished with a sparkle of magic. _Minerva and her Scottish references. It was 'Highland Fling' last month_, she thought, shaking her head in amusement.

Next, she thought about who else she should invite… the 'Weasley Wives' as they had been dubbed, were a must – Fleur, Audrey, Angelina and Katie, Lavender (ugh), was already coming – _I wonder who Charlie's seeing this month; probably the new Romanian Longhorn he wrote about last week. _She laughed at her own thoughts. _Negligible, whoever she is._

_Hmmm – maybe I should invite Molly too. I can't see Ginny being happy about it but I'm sure she'll get over it and Molly'll be hurt if I don't invite her. Yes! Molly too._

_List time…_

Hermione drew another piece of parchment from the stack at the side of her desk and began her list of invitees:

_Ginny Potter_

_Luna Longbottom_

_Lavender WEASLEY. Gods Ron. What were you thinking?_ She erased that last bit with her wand.

_Jo Krowlin_

_Fleur Weasley_

_Audrey Weasley_

_Angelina Weasley_

_Katie Bell (almost Weasley)_

_Molly Weasley_

_Parvati Patil-Thomas_

_Padma Patil-Jordan_

Hermione paused in her writing, wondering whether or not to add the few Slytherin friends she'd made in the years since the war. Usually she only met with them separate from Ginny and the others; on the one occasion they'd all been together, at Hermione's 21st, the birthday girl had ended up playing peacekeeper. _They'll feel quite put out if I don't invite them and I really can't be arsed to deal with 'put out Slytherins'; they're too bloody petty. And, _she thought slyly, her mind turning a little Slytherin itself, _Pansy and Astoria have both dated Draco, maybe I can get something worth knowing out of them._ Decision made, she put quill to parchment once more…

_Pansy Parkinson_

_Daphne Greengrass_

_Astoria Greengrass_

Mid-list, although really much closer to the end, a silvery-white tabby cat patronus swept through Hermione's study window to hover in front of the quill wielding witch and began to speak in the formidable tone and light Scottish accent that Hermione associated solely with her former Transfiguration professor.

"It would be my pleasure to attend your little gathering, Hermione. How sweet of you to invite me. Pomona and Poppy have both said they would be delighted to accompany me but Septima is off studying the effects of the Aurora Borealis and _Mara Hopkirk_, the new Defence Professor is swamped with lesson plans but she did say she would attend next time."

Hermione cast her own patronus to send thanks back to the Headmistress and then returned to her list.

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Poppy Pomfry_

_Pomona Sprout_

_This should be an interesting party._

List complete, she determined a way to inform the newest invitees.

Pansy, most surprisingly, had invested in a mobile phone. So anti-muggle at school, it had damn near shocked Hermione into a dead faint when the Slytherin witch had asked her - well, practically demanded - to help navigate muggle-London to buy one. It seemed that Pansy was opening a designer boutique at the time in Diagon Alley, which straddled the magical and muggle worlds, much like The Leaky Cauldron and wanted a way for muggle customers to contact her. She had also asked Hermione for help in setting up a way to identify and deal with muggle money. Hermione had been wary at first but in the end, happy to help such a puritan witch become more engrossed in the muggle world. From then on, a working relationship had developed into a tentative friendship; there were still a few small trust issues but only when they reminisced about Hogwarts.

It turned out that many witches and wizards fell short of muggle knowledge, Muggle Studies class never being completely accurate when it came to facts about the world that lay beyond all that was magical and Hermione found herself becoming something of an unofficial muggle-consultant. She didn't need to work; her friend Jo had made sure of that, not to mention the pay-out from the Ministry of Magic for aiding 'The Chosen One' in the death of Tom Riddle.

Hermione pulled out her phone and searched her contacts; she had listed Pansy under '666'; the other witch never knew what it meant and Hermione felt it to be a harmless nod to the bitch Pansy used to be. She typed in a few lines and asked her to bring Daphne and Astoria too. _There. Slytherins, check. Next, 'Weasley Wives'._

Not wanting to bother Ginny, knowing the redhead would already be in the throes of hair, make-up and wardrobe choice with Lavender, Hermione decided a quick trip to the Burrow was in order. She knew she barely had time but also knew that Molly would like an invitation in person, and the older witch could round up her daughters-in-law like a border collie herding sheep. _I wonder if Narcissa would be like that with…_ _Stop! Hermione, stop it. Focus._

Attempting to dispel the tinge of pink that had risen to her cheeks at her wayward thoughts, Hermione picked up her beaded bag from the sofa and headed for the floo.

Hermione stepped out of the Burrow floo and dusted off her mauve robes (she refused to call them 'lavender' on principle) as she called out for the overtly-motherly – although with seven children how could one not be so – Molly Weasley.

The rounded, aging, redheaded matriarch of her the Weasley clan bustled in within seconds…

"Hermione, sweetheart…" she swept Hermione into a bone-crushing hug as she continued. "I didn't know you were popping by. I thought you'd be getting ready. Ginny and Lavender are upstairs getting ready; Luna too."

"Molly, my ribs…" Hermione choked out.

"I'm sorry dear but you really need to eat something. Get a little padding on your ribs. You'd have cushioning against my hugs then."

Hermione rolled her eyes; every interaction with Molly seemed to start this way and she gave her 'second mother' a sarcastic long-suffering sigh.

"Thanks for caring Molly but can I have my ribs back now?"

The older witch released her and looked her over…

"Now, what can I do for you dear?" Molly asked, turning and heading back toward the kitchen. "The food is almost ready for tonight. Have you come to pick it up? Do you want some tea?"

"Tea would be lovely, Molly. Thank you." Hermione sat at the kitchen table as she continued. "I'm not here to pick up the food but I was wondering if there is any way you could triple it? You see, I've decided to turn tonight into a bit more of a party. I'd like you to come of course, and Fleur, Audrey, Angelina, and Katie. Seemed silly to just have a couple of us when I could make it a real shindig."

"Oh sweetheart, that sound lovely; but are you sure I wouldn't get in the way of all you young'uns?"

"Don't be silly. I've invited Minerva too…, she's bringing Pomona and Poppy as well so if you would prefer a more mature crowd, I've catered for that too." They both laughed.

"Well, if you're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. It wouldn't be the same without you Molly. You're a good laugh when you've had a few drinks and let your hair down. I know the twins didn't get their mischievous side from Arthur. Or Ginny with her… let's say feistiness."

The slightly greying witch went redder than her hair.

"You're getting way too cheeky as you grow up, Hermione." Molly said in feigned admonishment, bringing over the tea.

Hermione's smile was boldly Machiavellian. "Tell me I'm wrong."

"Well no, you have a point dear."

"Would you be able to let all the girls know? I've still got to invite the Patil twins and I'm starting to run short on time."

"Oh, Lavender has an MMN with Parvati; I'm sure she'll pass on a message for you."

"A what?" Hermione wanted to know.

"It's a new thing the twins came up with for their communications range. MMN stands for Magical Messages Notebooks. Not their most inventive product name, I think they were probably tired when they came up with it but it does what it says. A pair of notebooks magically linked; what is written on one appears on the other. Lavender and Parvati have a set. I think the boys got the idea from those DA coins you came up with at school."

"Then I really should get royalties." Hermione crossed her arms and huffed in mock annoyance.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Why don't you pop up and see the girls, dear? I'll make them each a cup of tea for you to take up and I'll get started on the extra food."

A couple of minutes later, Hermione was walking up the crooked stairs to Ginny's old bedroom on the second floor of her magically held together second home.

With the three cups of tea levitating at her side, Hermione knocked the door.

"Come in," rang Ginny's shout from the other side.

Hermione pushed open the door and the steaming beverages followed her in.

"Hey Gin." Hermione greeted, smiling warmly. "Hi Lavender." The second greeting was still friendly but with a little less exuberance.

"'Mione!" Ginny exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting you was I? Is everything ok? Tonight's still on, isn't it?"

"Yes, everything's fine. Don't panic. I just popped over to invite your mum and the rest of the Weasley Wives. I've decided to turn tonight into more of a party. Ladies only of course. Minerva's coming too, and Poppy and Pomona." She stated as she turned to Lavender. "Molly mentioned you can get in touch with Parvati. Can you send her a message about tonight… and see if she'll ask Padma to come too?"

"No problem, chick."

Ginny rolled her eyes at the idea of her mother being on the guest list as Lavender rummaged around in her handbag and pulled out a bright purple notebook embellished with a glittery silver unicorn on the cover. She opened it to a blank page, tapped her wand to the parchment and words appeared in a short paragraph as the invitation was magically created and sent.

"Why did you have to invite my mother? Now I'm not gonna be able to have any fun."

"Thanks." Hermione said quickly to Lavender before turning to Ginny. "And Gin, your mum would feel left out if I invited everyone except her and she could do with a little time to relax. Isn't she watching Victoire and Teddy tomorrow night?"

Ginny nodded. "Okay fine." She huffed. "But I'm palming her off on Minerva.

"Charming." Came Molly's voice from the doorway.

"Sorry mum but you are going to kind of cramp my style while I'm partying." Ginny whined.

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Hermione stated. "I think it's time you two started to try and be friends on top of being mother and daughter. That way you can tolerate being around each other socially. It's what my mum and I do… we go to the pub together, see a film at least once a month and we're talking about going to a line-dancing class together."

"That sounds lovely dear; you're such a wonderful daughter." Molly said to Hermione.

"Molly, stop being passive-aggressive." Hermione chastised the matriarch; she was one of the very few given leniency by the older witch to do so. It was compensation for Molly constantly trying to set her up with eligible young wizards; including the last remaining single Weasley: Charlie. "Ginny is a wonderful daughter to you and you know she loves you. She just shows it in different ways."

"I know, dear. Thank you Hermione, love."

Ginny smiled. "I love watching you tell mum off. It's so much fun to see the tables turned.

"That's enough of that Ginevra." Molly said sternly to her daughter before turning back to Hermione. "Well, I'd better get on with the extra food and I'll have to pick out a dress for later now too." She finished excitedly before turning to leave the room with pep in her step.

"Now, where were we?" Ginny asked the other two witches in the room.

"Parvati replied. She said she'll be there but Padma is away covering a story in Wiltshire for the Prophet.

"Ah ok. Well that's fine. I don't want to interrupt anyone's work."

I haven't seen Parvati for about a month. She and Dean only got back from their honeymoon last week and I wanted to give them time to settle into their new house."

"How nice of you." _That sounded bitchier that I intended._ "How are things with you and Ron?"

"Amazing. You know, just this morning he woke me up by…"

"STOP!" Ginny bellowed at her sister-in-law. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. What have I told you about sharing details of what my brother does to you?" I don't want to know. And, I'm pretty sure 'Mione doesn't either."

The redhead looked to her best friend to back her up but frowned at the look of amusement on Hermione's face.

"Honestly Gin. I don't really care anymore. I made a big fuss over nothing at school and I'm beyond over Ronald Weasley." _Peace-keeper extraordinaire, that's me!_

"Really?" Lavender asked with a palpable excitement and Hermione nodded. "Oh, Hermione. Thank you. When things happened in sixth year at first I really didn't know about your feelings and then when I did, I only fought tooth and nail for him because, well, because it's you isn't it? I could tell he liked you but I didn't want to lose out just because you two had all that history." Lavender launched herself at Hermione then and the latter found herself in another rib-shattering embrace.

"Lav, really? Molly already tried to break my spine with her hugs. Will you let go?"

"Sorry." Lavender said releasing her before turning to Ginny. "And I was only going to say that Won-won woke me this morning by bringing me breakfast in bed."

"Oh, ok." Ginny turned a little pink at being so wrong. "Sorry Lav, I just…"

"And three toe-curling, tongue-induced orgasms." The bubbly witch finished.

"Very nice." Hermione said, laughing. Ginny cringed, then scowled at her sister-in-law and threw a pillow directly at the other witch's head with all the strength that her chaser position on the Holyhead Harpies afforded her.

"Well, I better go get ready. Oh, and Gin, try to loosen up on your mum, yeah? She needs to let her hair down."

"Just because she lets you boss her around in exchange for playing matchmaker, doesn't mean you get the same liberty with me."

"Yeah but I love you both and you know I only boss you around because I care. It would be nice if your relationship with Molly could develop and mature a bit."

Ginny rolled her eyes but didn't continue to argue. "Fine." She added finally, crossing her arms and frowning like a child not getting her own way.

Hermione and Lavender laughed, causing Ginny to glare at them each in turn, a glare worthy of Snape.

"Well, see you both later. I need to get ready and finish setting up."

Hugs and goodbyes later, Hermione returned home through the floo.

Back at her flat, Hermione readied the lounge and kitchen, waving her wand to accomplish the work of a feather duster, vacuum cleaner and polish before lighting the fire. The wine was already cooling in the fridge – not that it was really a refrigerator but a large icebox enchanted with cooling and ventilation charms – and there were two bottle of firewhiskey and four shot glasses on the counter, _well that's not going to be enough,_ she thought and duplicated the shot glasses until there were twenty. Hermione nodded to herself with satisfaction.

_Need more drinks._ She ran to her study, scribbled a quick note to Tom at The Leaky Cauldron, ordering four more bottles of firewhiskey, explaining she'd be by to pick them up about 6.30 and a post script: '_Put it on my tab. I'll settle up Monday.'_ She tied the note to Titania's leg and let her out the window with details of the addressee before checking the time: 5.15pm. _Right. Shower. That'll leave me with just enough time to get ready before meeting Jo._

At 6.15pm, dressed in a fitted-to-the-thigh and then hanging loose to the ground, slightly revealing at the breast, hunter-green maxi dress under her burgundy travelling cloak, Hermione left the confines of her flat with her hair straightened for once – a potion gift from Narcissa Malfoy had finally achieved the impossible and given the young Gryffindor a sleek, shiny waterfall of honeyed chestnut, arrow straight locks. Hermione barely recognised herself.

She waved at Tom as she walked through the pub from magical to muggle street.

"I'll pick up the firewhiskey on my way back through, Tom. Won't be long." She called over her shoulder as she was exiting the pub.

Hermione waited outside the pub for Jo to arrive, sending her a quick text to say she was there. It felt strange standing around on a muggle street, so many people bustling around; completely unaware that mere feet away there was a mini metropolis of magical wonder. She tried to imagine what her life would be now if she wasn't a witch – what would she be like if she had no magic, had never met Harry or the Weasley's; if she hadn't been bullied by Draco; if she hadn't been through a war, obliviated her parents, been captured and tortured; who would she be?

"H?"

Hermione was shaken from her musings as a familiar voice broke the trance-like state of random considerations. "Jo!" the witch exclaimed, hugging her friend. "How are you?"

"Busy. I just finished 'Phoenix' so that's at the publishers for editing. I still can't believe some of the things you told me about Umbridge. Then, there are the films of course. 'Chamber' opens in London in a few months. It's none stop."

"Yeah, Umbridge was a piece of work but don't worry, the toad got hers, alright. I read the advanced copy of Order you sent me; it's perfect, really." Hermione said excitedly. "I can't wait for you to meet everyone. None of them know what you're doing of course, I told them the easiest part of the truth to explain how I know you… that you were my babysitter." They both laughed.

"We're both a long way away from that time now. What happened to that frizzy haired little girl who used to beg me to read Shakespeare to her… at six years old?"

"She went through a war and had to grow up rather quickly."

Jo nodded sorrowfully for her friends losses but then found a smile and swiftly changed the subject. "I love your hair like this by the way. You look so grown up."

"Jo, I'm twenty-three." She laughed.

"So how many people are coming to this little gathering tonight then?" Jo wanted to know.

"Well, I was going to talk to you about that…" Hermione linked arms with her 'babysitter' ushering her into the Leaky Cauldron. "Remember how you said you'd love to meet Minerva…?" Jo nodded. "Well, she's coming tonight, and a few more besides. There's going to be about seventeen of us all together."

"Seventeen? So nice of you to throw me in at the deep end, Hermione."

Hermione laughed as she walked up to the bar to collect the four waiting bottles of firewhiskey. "Hi Tom. This is my friend Jo; she used to babysit me sometimes before I went to Hogwarts."

"Lovely to meet you, Madam." Tom said as he bowed.

"Oh, aren't you sweet." Jo replied. "Lovely to meet you too. Hermione always speaks so highly of you."

Tom smiled at the ladies as Hermione touched his hand. "I'll be back through in the morning to see Jo back through to muggle-London and I'll see you Monday to settle up. I haven't managed to get to Gringotts for a few days and I hate making wand payments, it takes days for my balance to be right."

"Right you are Miss Granger. Take care now." Tom waved them off.

Hermione led Jo through the pub and out into the small area outside. She tapped the well-known order of bricks to reveal the magical Diagon Alley to Jo and they stepped through.

"Oh, Hermione. This is just how I pictured it." Jo revelled. "Exactly as you described."

"Yes." Hermione beamed. "It is rather wonderful isn't it? Come on, let's get up to my flat and I can settle you into my spare room before the other arrive."

"Let's go." Jo nodded as she agreed. And both witch and muggle walked excitedly up the street.

**A/N: Okay, I know, I know… another pre-main event chapter but I promise it's on its way. Hopefully, you've guessed who the secret guest for the party now is. I wasn't sure if I could use her real name, so I altered it a little just in case.**

**I felt the need to have this prep chapter of Hermione getting ready; slower paced, a little interaction with the girls and no Draco but there will be plenty of him next time… I think.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: My apologies for this taking a while to post; I had a general idea of what I wanted to happen in this chapter but the words didn't flow, the inspiration didn't bloom so I focused on my Snape fic and a couple of others bubbled to the surface as well but now Hermione's interest in Draco and her friendship with Jo and the others has once more returned to the surface of my consciousness and so, we continue…**

Chapter 5

Standing in the kitchen of her flat, Hermione poured two glasses of her favourite elven cabernet and handed one two her muggle friend Jo.

"So how's your love life?" Jo asked the young witch. "Anyone new on the horizon?"

"Why does everyone always start a conversation with me like that?" Hermione sighed dejectedly.

"I'm sorry. I just… well, I and I'm sure everyone else would just like to see you happy." Her friend explained.

"Actually, I might need your help with something tonight."

Jo raised an eyebrow in question.

Hermione laughed.

"You look just like Snape when you do that."

Jo smiled.

"He is such a favourite of mine from the stories you've told. It was genius of you suggesting Alan Rickman for the movies."

"Oh I know, his voice is very similar, same baritone, same timbre. Quite frightening at times."

"Quite sexy at others." The older woman imparted.

Hermione put her hand up to Jo's face…

"STOP! Please stop. I cannot think of Snape that way. It's too creepy."

"You've never even considered it? Not once?" The muggle author wanted to know.

Hermione blushed.

"Maybe. Once," the witch admitted, dropping her head to hide the blush. "When I was drunk," she added in an attempt to justify the mortifying truth.

"No need to feel ashamed about it. Trust me, I get it. In fact, is he still single?"

"I think so. Since the war he's become something of a recluse. He's running a mail-order potions business now; it's becoming quite popular; giving Weasley's Wizard Wheezes a run for their galleons in some products."

"Ah I see. Well maybe you could try to arrange for me to meet him. I'd be eternally in your debt. More so than I already am for giving me this story."

Hermione nodded. "I can try but please don't hold your breath Jo. Even if he was looking at meeting someone, anyone; I can't imagine him being happy with you or me. We killed him off."

"_That_ was your idea. You're the one who wanted to pay him back for all those snarky comments in your early years."

"Okay, okay, I'll write to him."

Jo nodded, mollified.

"So what's this help you need tonight?"

"Ah yes, I almost forgot about that. The thing is - the question you asked me earlier about my love life… well, there is someone I think I might be interested in. But… it's complicated."

Hermione shifted her feet a little and fidgeted uncomfortably but Jo had a feeling she knew who this mystery man might be and gave the young witch a knowing look.

"Draco?"

Hermione was in shock. It couldn't possibly be that obvious. Not in the last 15 minutes.

"How could you possibly know that?

"I've heard you talk about how annoying and vile he is for years. Me thinks the lady doth protest too much." Jo smirked knowingly. Ironically, very reminiscent of Draco Malfoy himself.

"Well…" she gave an exasperated but ultimately resigned sigh. "Nothing's happened except…"

Jo held her hand up.

"And the way he picked on you so much in school; taunting you and throwing unpleasant spells, etcetera; it's the equivalent of muggle boys pulling your hair and calling you names. Before boys know what to do about their feelings for girls, they're mean as way to get your attention. It's like a huge neon sign saying 'NOTICE ME'."

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I never thought of it like that. Do you really think so?"

Jo nodded, just as the floo chimed to announce impending visitors.

Hermione headed to her living room, calling back over her shoulder to her friend… "…just keep this little tidbit of gossip to yourself. Please?"

"I'll try."

Hermione gave her best Slytherin scowl at her babysitter-turned-friend before opening the floo

**~DRAMIONE~**

Once everyone had arrived and settled, the lounge area was full to bursting; Hermione had magically extended the dimensions of the room (such things were only possible in Diagon Alley residences, and The Burrow for some reason she was sure only Merlin knew), duplicated her corner sofa so all her friends could fit and transfigured five high-backed plush armchairs for the Hogwarts staff, Mrs Weasley and Jo. No-one was facing the mantelpiece.

"Come on ferret. It's almost 8. We'll have missed the dishing of some vital information already." Harry called impatiently to his Slytherin cohort.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't get your wand in a fucking knot." Came the exasperated reply from said cohort. "That last bit of the spell was tricky."

Harry contorted his face into a look of mocking shocked horror. "So much for being better than me at literally everything. I had no trouble with the spell at all." He really couldn't help teasing his school nemesis, old habits die hard.

"Shut it Potter or I might have to take after Granger and start slugging people in the face."

They both laughed.

"Okay, okay. Are you ready to go now?"

"Almost. I just have one question before we go…"

Harry gestured for Draco to go ahead.

"How come the Weasel isn't joining us?"

"Well there are two reasons really. One, he has work; that would be the boring reason. Two, he said, and I quote: 'Even if I hadn't pulled the weekend shift, I don't wanna be listening to my mum and sister and all them old crones talk about their sex lives,' then he vomited."

"So it wasn't about spending time with me?"

"He didn't say anything." _He didn't have to._ Harry failed to add.

"Ok." Draco seemed satisfied. "Let's go, Scarhead." The term seemed to have become something of an endearment, much like Harry's of calling Draco 'Ferret'.

Both wizards moved to the chaise in the Grimmauld Place library and Harry warded the door to keep literally anyone and everyone out – a ward he had learned from Hermione - before nodding to Draco. They each focused on the location they needed to be, waved their wands and uttered the incantation – "_transferum etia"_

There was no pull behind the navel like apparition, no nauseating sucked through a straw feeling like portkey travel and no whooshing green flames like using a floo. It was a simple act of closing your eyes and mentally transporting your mind to a magically moving photograph of yourself. They had both tested the spell earlier in the day to make sure it didn't interrupt Hermione's 'wazoo of wards' and were slightly giddy when they in fact when there wasn't so much as a ripple in her security measures. In their excitement, they had even high-fived; an act of comradery both of them would deny doing if ever asked – reputations to uphold and all that.

When they arrived, the witches seemed to be enjoying a drinking game and the voice they heard was that of Minerva McGonagall…

"_Hmmm, let me think. My worst experience with Peeves… _there was a moments pause…_ ah, I remember. It must have been 1966, my first year as a Professor. That abominable little bugger had got into the laundry and decided to decorate the Great Hall with all of my unmentionables. I kept him in a spirit resistant jar for six months for his trouble."_

There were four gasps and then everyone burst out laughing.

"_Okay girls, you know the rules; everyone who gasped, take a shot," _came the voice of Pansy Parkinson as Hermione, Angelina, Lavender and Poppy knocked back shots of fire-whiskey. _"You too Professor, since less than half of us were shocked into gasping."_

Minerva bested the younger girls by taking two shots.

"Muffliato" Harry cast from the picture frame and turned to his photographic companion. "I thought you said there were only going to be a few of them."

"I thought there were. It's what Hermione said earlier. She must have invited more. I'm surprised she invited Pansy and the Greengrass sisters though."

"Ever since the war she's rallied for reconciliation between the houses. Blaise Zabini taught her to cook Italian food last year."

"He kept that quiet."

"_Alright Ladies, practice round over. I think everyone gets the idea now." _Pansy's voice came again as she turned to the only muggle in the room. _"Jo, if there's anything you can't answer because it's magic related, I'll grant you a reprieve. If you want one." _She laughed.

Jo nodded as the Slytherin witch summoned several bottles… _"Accio Veritequila"_

"_Line 'em up Granger."_

"Oh fuck. Harry, this is gonna get good."

"What? Because of that drink you mean?"

Draco nodded, his face creeping into a disgustingly smug grin, mirroring the delight he felt.

"I'm assuming its tequila laced with Veriteserum?"

"Yeah. It's only laced with enough potion that it equals one drop per shot but the more you drink, the more detailed what you reveal becomes. Imagine being pissed and having a full dose of that potion…"

Harry face comically became the exact opposite of Draco's, horror marring his features as the ladies started up their questions.

"_First round then; I'll start us off easy: Who was your first snog and when? Calendar year or school year._

_Some were not surprising at all:_

_Hermione – "Victor Krum – fourth year"_

_Pansy – "Draco Malfoy – third year"_

_Astoria Greengrass – "Draco Malfoy – fifth year_

_Ginny – "Michael Corner – fourth year"_

"We know all this. Well, I do." Draco said in his most bored drawl. "They need to get to the good stuff."

"They will. The game has only just started."

_Minerva – "Argus Filch – fifth year."_

_Fourteen gasps made for quite the sound. It seemed Poppy and Pomona already knew. Everyone took their shot._

"_Dish, witch" Pansy demanded of her ex-Transfiguration Professor._

"_Of course Miss Parkinson. I did not think I would get away with no explanation – not with this crowd. It was actually the summer before my fifth year and I was a friend of his older sister, Ambrosia. I was spending a week with her family over that summer, like I did every year. He was quite the handsome young man but so very distraught over failing to become magical. As a teenager, with that awful flux of hormones as well as feeling inept within his family he fell into a depression. Being the tireless compassionate soul that I am, I endeavoured to cheer him up. We 'snogged', as you youngsters like to call it, for two hours. I think he only became grumpy again and the man he is now a few years later when I got married."_

Harry and Draco stared at the Headmistress with identical looks of incredulity.

"_That is quite the story Professor."_ Hermione said and held her drink up in respect to her former Head-of-House.

"_Right, now we all have a little truth serum in our system, time to get to the good stuff, as Draco would say…"_

Harry rolled his eyes, having heard Draco say those words mere minutes ago.

"What can I say? She knows me too well."

"Definitely.

"_Ok, next question, ladies… whom and what is your wildest fantasy?"_

_Katie and Angelina answered together… "Foursome."_

"_With our Weasley babes of course" continued Katie; Angelina nodding in considerable agreement. Neither blushing with embarrassment at the idea._

"Do you think they have?" Draco asked, nudging Harry.

"It wouldn't surprise me. Fred and George share everything."

"Wow. I didn't think they had it in them. Nice one, lads."

_All the ladies laughed but no one gasped with surprise. Angelina and Katie took their shots._

_Pomona confessed to wanting to have Severus Snape suspended from vines in Greenhouse Six while mercilessly playing with him. Everyone took two shots for that one, being reduced to spluttering on the first._

_Luna's fantasy was as surreal as expected… being carried off into the forest by centaurs and being used as their plaything for days, attracting millions of rackspurts to her dizzied from lust mind. Another full round of Veritequila._

_Poppy revealed her exhibitionist side with a fantasy of being watched pleasuring herself during the National Duelling Championships._

_Parvati, Lavender and Ginny all had similar ideas of outside fun… _

_Jo mentioned a muggle actor called Alan Rickman in billowing black robes and cast a knowing smirk at Hermione._

_Fleur was another surprising one; a fantasy of being shared between her husband and brother-in-law, Charlie. A pursuit they had apparently partaken in, much to the disbelief of Molly Weasley. She needed three shots just to calm herself._

_Molly's fantasy was actually quite sweet. Cuddling up with Arthur in an empty house. Wild because the Weasley clan was so large and the Burrow so busy that an empty house was next to impossible._

"_Hermione, your turn…" Pansy prompted_

Draco's attention suddenly became rapt.

_Hermione's face turned scarlet and she ducked her head, fighting the effects of the potion infused alcohol._

"_Come on, Hermione. It can't be worse that some of the ones we've heard." Ginny encouraged._

"_Okay." Hermione whispered without lifting her head. _

_The room was silent as everyone waited for the prudish bookworm who barely gave a second thought to her sex life to spill her deepest desire._

"_It's… it's…" she whispered as she steeled herself. Finally, feeling mortified, she revealed, "Draco."_

"_And…" came several prompts from the room._

Draco's eyes were wide, his heart pounding. Finally, proof that she was interested. "Yes!" he almost shouted with an unprecedented amount of excitement.

"I knew it." Harry said simply, smirking.

_Hermione looked up and scanned the eager faces of her friends; even the Hogwarts professors seemed to be on the edge of their seats. She scrunched up her eyes as if she couldn't bear to see her own humiliation and spoke more confidently that she felt._

"_Giving Draco Malfoy a blow job in the Slytherin common room, in front of every member of the house…"_

_Everyone gasped and drank at least two shots._

"…_and, Pansy sitting in an arm chair by the fire giving me instructions on how to best please him. Like a practical lesson in the Art of Fellatio."_

_Stunned silence._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

"Well, erm… yes… isn't that just…" Minerva broke the silence first.

"It's always the quiet ones with the wildest ideas." Pansy added as she grinned like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. "You know, Granger, if you ever want to make it a reality, I'm sure Draco would be amenable. He's always had a bit of a thing for you and I'd certainly be up for it."

Hermione's face was scarlet and she kept it parallel with her knees as she muttered, "Thanks Pansy; I'll keep that in mind for after the lobotomy I plan to schedule first thing in the morning."

"Hey, the Veritequila never lies and it was your fantasy."

Hermione didn't say another word, or lift her head.

"Next round then; strangest place you've had sex and who with?"

…

_Draco had not uttered a single word. He had stared at Hermione with unconcealed shock, participating whole-heartedly in the stunned silence which had followed the declaration of her private fantasy – that involved him, a lot. As the initial incredulity had worn off, a smug expression had taken over his features, making Harry roll his eyes._

"_I bet you weren't expecting that when you woke up this morning." Harry stated in an amused but hushed tone._

"_I'm sure you weren't either, were you?" _

_When only silence was the reply from at his side, Draco turned to his fellow eavesdropper, looking suspicious… "You knew?"_

"_I've suspected she fancied you since third year – if she didn't have such strong feelings for you, she wouldn't have let you rile her to the point of muggle violence. I didn't really expect her to have such a kinky mind but I'm not overly surprised by that either to be honest. Hermione is an overachiever; in everything. It makes sense that she is in kinky shit as well."_

"_Well this day just keep getting better and better. What else can you tell me about her kinky side?"_

_Just then, as Harry was about to respond, Pansy's voice broke through their whispered conversation…_

"…I'm sure Draco would be amenable. He's always had a bit of a thing for you and I'd certainly be up for it."

_Draco cringed, rubbed a hand down his face and groaned. Realising he never should have confided such a thing to his gossiping gas-bag of an ex-girlfriend._

"_Why do I tell her things?" he muttered to himself, almost inaudibly._

"_I'm going to guess it's because even you need a real friend to confide in now and then; it doesn't pay to bottle these things up. Trust me, I know. I wouldn't mind stepping into such a role in future, if you feel the need for the less gossipy kind sometimes. And I know how to keep a secret, and avoid the effects of veritiserum"_

"_I'll keep that in mind." He said as he continued to scowl at Pansy. "It might be good to have a male confidant again. Blaise is off in Italy somewhere, Theo decided to join some cult and find enlightenment and it's not like I can talk to my father about anything meaningful."_

"_Harry Potter…" Harry held out his hand as if in greeting someone new. "All-round good guy, trustworthy friend and youngest and best Hogwarts seeker in a century. Pleased to meet you."_

_Draco rolled his eyes but took the proffered hand._

"_Are you always gonna rub that in my face?"_

"_Probably and if you're going after Hermione, you'll just have to get used to it."_

"_It wouldn't bother you? Me and Hermione, I mean?"_

"_As long as you're good to her and she's happy, you have my blessing. Ron might be harder to convince."_

"_Like I care what Weasley thinks."_

"_I know you don't but Hermione does. At least make it look like you're trying to get his blessing. I doubt you'll actually get it but it'll mean a lot to Mione that you tried."_

"_Very sneaky Potter. With scheming like that you might have done well in Slytherin."_

"_Given up on calling me Harry, already?" Harry laughed. "Funny, you say that about doing well in Slytherin though; the Sorting Hat said almost exactly the same thing when I first got to Hogwarts. And don't forget, I did share my soul with Slytherin's psychotic snake-face heir for almost twenty years; at least it was only sneakiness that rubbed off."_

_Draco went very quiet at the mention of Voldemort._

"_Draco," Harry began, noticing the sinking demeanour and mood of his new '_friend_'. "It's in the past, a lot of what happened wasn't your fault, you were in an impossible situation and even though you were a git most of the time, you were also a kid and raised to believe a load of thestral-shit about blood purity. I don't blame you for any of it and neither does Mione. Next time you decide to slump your shoulders and wallow in self-pity over the shit you've done and been through, remember that you weren't responsible for the war, you were a kid just like the rest of us and a victim of the mistakes of our elders."_

_Draco had tears in his eyes and Harry was barely holding back his own. He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder and the blonde Slytherin nodded._

"_Thanks Harry."_

"_Remember this too… you are forgiven; for all that stupid shit you put us through; you are always and completely forgiven."_

_Without warning, Draco threw his arms around Harry in a quick and far from masculine hug. The shocked, dark-haired recipient of Draco's out-of-character embrace stood stock still for a moment before patting the back of his embracer in understanding and clearing his throat._

_Draco pulled back wiping a tear from his eye and also cleared his throat in a show of returning masculinity._

"_If you tell anyone I lost my cool for a second, you'll regret it, Potter." He ground out the Harry's surname with all the venom that he had used for years before giving a conspiratorial grin and returning his attention to the room beyond the photograph at large._

"She_ forgives you too, you know?" Harry gestured toward Hermione. "She holds a grudge for a long time but she lets it go eventually. I think discovering that my mother never forgave Snape for calling her, well, you know, put things in perspective about that day you said the same thing in second year."_

"_Really?" Draco asked, sounding hopeful; not taking his eyes off the curly haired object of his affection._

"_Yea, really. You've got it bad, huh?" Harry asked, watching Draco's eyes glaze over with admiration._

"_More than I care to admit to."_

"_Want my help?" Harry offered._

_Accepting help from Harry was always going to be a source of incredible discomfort, old habits did die incredibly hard, but Draco had to admit, he was out of his depth at convincing the Gryffindor Princess to give him a chance. Fighting his ego, Draco gave a sharp nod._

_Harry laughed at the pain it caused Draco to accept his help. It was written all over his face._

"_I'd say the best thing to do, just to put you on the right path is an apology."_

"_But you said she's already forgiven me. What's the point of apologising?"_

_Harry let out an exasperated sigh; this was going to be harder than he thought._

"_She has forgiven you, mate but remember you're meant to know that. Not to mention, if you're really that into her and are truly sorry, then she deserves your honesty and remorse for hurting her. It's a sign of respect and will show her that you've grown up and moved past the misguided beliefs you held in the past."_

_Draco sighed._

"_This isn't going to be fun."_

_Harry clapped a hand on Draco's shoulder again._

"_I don't think it's supposed to be, mate."_

"_You're probably right. Oh Merlin, I hate being a mature, responsible adult. It sucks."_

"_Yeah, but apparently, if you're lucky… so does Hermione."_

_They both burst into hushed laughter and returned their attention to the party._

…

Forty-five minutes and two more rounds of embarrassing questions later, the crimson hue of Hermione's face had faded to a dusty pink. She was still mortified but other confessions had dulled her embarrassment.

Most of the Weasley women had huddled in one corner to discuss the upcoming nuptials of Lavender and Ron; the Hogwarts staff had swapped Veritequila for brandy and were laughing about how much their former students had grown up and changed; Hermione however was sat with Jo and Ginny near the fire place discussing a movie, the plot of which held a remarkable similarities to events of ten years ago.

"So was that when you started to have a thing for Draco?" Ginny asked. "In fourth year?"

"Gin, please give it a rest. I'm not ready to talk about this."

"C'mon Mione. You can't expect me not to want to know everything after a bombshell like that. I mean, c'mon it's Malfoy."

"She has a point, Hermione." Jo added. "You never even mentioned him to me in that way, you only ever talked about him as a… what was it you called him?"

"Oh, oh, I love that nickname for him." Ginny's excitement rising. "The foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach. Always the one with twenty adjectives just to drive home the point, huh Mione?"

"I was probably over-compensating a little but I did have a point with what he was like at the time."

"All the more reason for you to explain how you could go from that to… to…, well, wanting to suck him off to a Slytherin audience."

"Yeah, spill Granger." Came Pansy's voice as she sat down next to the party's very uncomfortable hostess, the Greengrass sisters following behind her, reminiscent of Crabbe and Goyle tailing Draco.

"Fine." Hermione gave in, there were just too many expectant faces closing in on her. "But I'm really not sure when it started exactly; it was so gradual and I hardly noticed at first. I think I'd have to say third year was my first inclination really, although I denied it even to myself. That day I punched him in the face, when I was lying in bed that night, I felt guilty; marring those perfect cheekbones with a great big bruise. I was rather proud of myself too though so I repressed the other feelings under the heading of 'he deserved it' which he did of course."

"Okay, well that's a rather innocent beginning. When did it become a bit more, you know… sexy?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah. Get to the good stuff Mione." Ginny added.

"Merlin, you lot must be desperate for gossip and scandal."

"It's my bread and butter." Pansy said nonchalantly.

"Well, I suppose I noticed him a little more after that. Looked at him more in the Great Hall, glanced at him in Potions… once we were in fifth year and that cow Umbridge was watching our every move I added another area to my glances… just letting my eyes focus on his rather stellar arse if I happened to be behind him in the corridors."

"Here we go; things are picking up. This would make such an amazing movie outtake." Came Jo's voice.

"Don't you dare!" Hermione glared at her ex-babysitter come biographer.

"As if I would; the story is already set but this would certainly change the epilogue a bit."

Pansy's eyes shifted between the two.

"What are you talking about?" She asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." They both said in unison.

At least four sets of eyes narrowed on Hermione and Jo but nothing more was said on the subject.

"So is that it?" Astoria asked. "A few stolen glances and drooling over his perfect arse?"

"No. There's more."

"Do tell, Miss Granger." Ginny offered in a remarkably accurate impression of Snape.

They all burst out laughing.

Hermione took a deep breath and continued.

"Sixth year, it changed. I'm assuming you all know what Draco's mission was from 'the dead one'?" Hermione asked to a round of nods. She smiled as she spoke her personally coined moniker for Voldemort; a nice way to remind herself he was gone.

"I noticed, through my near permanent staring that Draco had lost weight, his eyes were sunken and he looked so scared, so lacking his usual swagger. I didn't know why at the time but my heart ached for him. I was worried, so worried that he was ill or being cursed by the dead one, maybe beat up by his father, Lucius seems the type. As if the mental scarring of such a bastard father and shrew mother wasn't bad enough. I wouldn't wish such a thing on anyone but with Draco's character shrinking so much, I started to really care about what had caused the phenomenon, I started to care about him."

"You really did start to care about him then? Not just fancying him?" Pansy asked, surprised at how much Hermione was giving away.

"I honestly think it started before that but it's when I noticed it, accepted it. There was nothing I could do about it though until… well, when Harry almost killed him with sectumsempra, I was the one who went to get Snape. I had to save him, I couldn't let him die. I wasn't ready to admit what that meant but I just couldn't let him die."

"You're in love with him." Jo said, matter-of-factly.

"Shit." Ginny responded.

"Are you…?" Pansy began. "Are you in love Draco?"

"Yes… no, maybe. I don't know." Hermione wasn't sure.

"Well, I think it's safe to say you are, Hermione. Given the fact that your cheeks are redder than when you confessed your fantasy earlier." Ginny said confidently.

Hermione took a very deep breath and considered her situation. If they knew already what was the harm in confessing it. It's not like Draco was around to hear it, thank Merlin.

"Okay fine. Yes. Yes, I am in love Draco Malfoy." Hermione announced proudly, a little louder than planned.

All conversation from the room of seventeen witches died in an instant at Hermione's declaration.

"_Did she really just say she's in love with me?" _Came a very familiar and unexpected voice from somewhere near the fireplace.

Seventeen pairs of eyes, snapped to the Hermione's mantle as Draco and Harry froze on the spot.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Inaversiblis"

The single spell was cast in an eerily calm voice as Hermione Granger stepped toward her mantelpiece. The frame upon it glowed with white light before seemingly returning to its original state.

"_Hermione, I'm sorry. Please, don't do this. Draco was desperate." Harry said; a tinge of fear in his eyes._

"_Oh, thanks mate. I thought it was Slytherin's that were meant to throw the blame on someone else and run."_

"You're welcome to try; running that it is. It really won't get you very far." Hermione responded, still in that very calm voice.

"_What did you do, Mione?"_

"Nothing that you won't be let out of… eventually." She said as she backed away.

"Hermione, that spell is regulated by the Ministry." Minerva warned. The first of her guests to say anything about the scene before them.

"I am aware of that Minerva. Thank you. But given that my best friend is an Auror who used his professional spells to break into my home without just cause and the fact that he brought a Slytherin with him, if it ever comes to an inquiry, which it will not, I am within my rights to plead self-defence and detaining my trespassers for them."

"Hermione, you're acting like you're really mad about this. It's only Harry and Draco messing around." Said Ginny, sounding worried.

"Harry knows that I ward my flat to within an inch of its life because of the panic attacks and nightmares I still suffer with from the war. He knows that not knowing who is in my home gives me severe anxiety and he knows that tonight was an important part of my therapy to begin overcoming such things. Telling him seems to have been the biggest mistake I have ever made."

She turned to Harry then.

"Clearly, I can no longer trust my best friend who seems to no longer _be_ my best friend. And as for you…" Hermione said, moving her eyes the three inches across the picture to focus on Draco, and brought up her wand once more, "Obliviate."

"If you would like to know how I feel about you, grow a back bone and FUCKING ASK!"

"_Granger? What's going on?"_

Hermione turned from the boys in the picture toward her friends; she didn't quite have it within her to even look at Draco without either going completely mad at him or breaking down in tears. As neither reaction would be ideal and she wasn't ready for him to see her in either state, she chose to keep her cool.

"Ginny, Pansy, Luna, I need you to come with me. Everyone else, please watch these two. I won't be long."

Ginny, Pansy and Luna looked at Hermione and then at each other with blank faces as she walked grabbed a handful of floo powder from the mantelpiece without sparing a glance to the photograph containing Harry and Draco and stepped into the fire. She dropped the floo powder and called out for the Grimmauld Place Library.

The last thing she heard as the green flames reared up to transport her was Harry's voice.

"_Oh shit."_

* * *

Hermione exited the flames of the Grimmauld place library fireplace and stepped aside to allow her friends through… Pansy came through first, throwing a curious look at Hermione; followed by Ginny who seemed very excited and Luna who, as always, was looking dreamily content.

"So, what's the plan, Mione?" Ginny asked excitedly. "It's been way too long since we pulled a big prank and those two need their arses handed to them."

"Wait… this is all a prank? You're not mad at them?" Pansy asked, flabbergasted but attempting to hide it.

"Of course it's a prank." Hermione confirmed. "Harry knows not to fuck with me and when he tries and inevitably gets caught… he knows to fear retribution." She said, turning into the open space where the boys unconsciously lounged on the sofa.

"So, it was all an act; that cool, expressionless demeanour? You were putting it on? Pansy continued to question, not used to this vengeful side of Hermione which was more Slytherin than she cared to admit.

"Oh no," Ginny responded first as they approached Harry and Draco's bodies. "She's pissed with what they've done but instead of causing a permanent rift between her and them, she channels it into the ongoing prank war."

"It's always so inventive and creative, Pansy. I like it because we come up with so many new ideas each time." Luna added.

"Very nice. Very Slytherin Granger. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Pansy, there were only two reasons the sorting hat didn't put me in Slytherin; the first was my blood status, I'd have been crucified as a muggleborn with what was to come over those years but even if that wasn't the reason, my willingness, I suppose some would call it courage, to put my Slytherin-style plans into action is the only thing to outweigh the plans themselves."

"But you laid that guilt trip on Potter pretty thick. Are you sure he's gonna know this is all in the name of your ongoing prank war?"

"He should and if he doesn't then more fool him. Besides, I wasn't really laying it on that thick, everything I said was true; messing with my anxiety levels was going too far." She turned away from staring at Harry to give the girls a sly smile. "Which means I can go too far in return."

"Don't mess up anything too delicate on him, Hermione; I need that part of him." Ginny pleaded.

They all laughed as Hermione raised her wand.

"Ok, now, how compromising do we make this?" Hermione asked her friends.

"Compromising?" Pansy asked.

"Oh, oh; Hermione, that is brilliant. Let me help, please?"

"That's why you're here, Gin. You work on Harry. Pansy and I will get Draco and then Luna can add her delightful little touches."

Ginny pointed her wand at her husband, uttering spells to remove his clothes as Hermione did the same to Draco.

"I bet this isn't how you imagined disrobing him for the first time, huh Granger?

"Well, no but as I have your assistance, I'm sure we can make up for that. What's his most prised body part, Pansy? His hair? Those gorgeous grey eyes of his? Something a little more private?"

"His lips actually. He's always been proud of that smug grin of his. Why, what's the plan?"

"Oh Hermione, what do you think about putting into action what we were going to do to Harry and Ron after Harry's stag do?" Luna asked.

"Gin, what do you think? It's Harry's meat and two veg on display if we do it."

"I'm on your side Mione, whatever you want to do."

"Pansy, can Draco take a joke?"

"Erm…"

"Well, I think it might be time we find out. Luna, Draco has similar colouring to you, what colour should we go with?"

Luna waved her wand and conjured a pale pink lipstick.

"Oh, you can't be serious. Draco will hit the roof. Especially since you obliviated him so he won't know what this is for."

"I'm sure Harry will… _fill him in_." Hermione said suggestively before squealing with glee."

"I've been dying to do this ever since we came up with it." Ginny said, hugging Hermione.

"Well, now we can. Gin, do you wanna do the honours?" she gestured to Harry's underwear.

"What, you're actually going to…" Pansy couldn't continue as she watched Ginny wandlessly remove her husband's boxers.

"Aren't you the lucky girl, Ginevra? Very nice." Luna's wistful voice added.

"Yeah. The Boy Who Lived got hot. Hey Red… if you ever want a third for his birthday or something, send me an owl, yeah?"

"I'll keep that in mind, Parkinson. Thanks."

They all laughed as Luna passed Hermione the lipstick.

"Now," Hermione said boldly as she walked up to the sofa and straddled Draco. "Time to tarnish those pretty lips of yours Malfoy."

Hermione painted Draco's lips in the baby pink shade of lipstick before magically lifting the impression of his kiss into the air and placing multiple ' kisses' on Harry's abdomen, leading down to his now very exposed broom and bludgers.

As she reluctantly removed herself from Draco's lap, the four young witches stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"Can I leave you three to deal with the positioning please? Something obvious but not overly exposed. Gin, you remember our original plan, maybe something a little more… bold?"

"No problem but where are you going?" Gin asked.

"There's something I need to get. Once you're done, head back to mine. For the next part of my plan, you all need plausible deniability."

"Mione, what are you doing? Isn't this bad enough?" Ginny asked, a little apprehension in her voice.

"Absolutely not. Harry went too far bringing Draco into this, especially the way he went about it. That means severe payback. And if Draco decides he's really interested in me then he needs to understand this side of me; hopefully he'll respect that I have a Slytherin side in me. Hopefully he'll want to put more Slytherin inside me." She said with a devious and hopeful smile.

"Ok but please don't get too crazy and please don't be long."

"It's all in good fun and hopefully they'll both know not to mess with me in future." Hermione said as she headed out of the library toward the main house."

"You know Harry won't let this go." Ginny warned to the retreating form of Hermione.

"Neither will Draco. This is going to mean war." Pansy added.

"Well, all I can say is bring it on boys. Hey, Luna, just before I set up the last part of the plan, do you have your camera in your bag."

Luna nodded.

"Get some good shots yeah?"

"Oh Gods, Granger you really should've been in Slytherin."

"Yep. See you later."

Hermione left the room, trusting her friends to prepare a perfect scene as she headed toward the living floo to make her call. She grabbed a pinch of floo powder and dropped it into the flames, calling out "Rita Skeeter's Office, Daily Prophet".

The familiar whoosh of green flames and dizzy feeling took hold before Hermione was staring at a lavish office; the walls were lined with scandalous front page articles, a neat desk housed several 'quite quotes quills', an enchanted type-writer and a steaming mug of coffee which gave off a distinct scent of brandy.

Hermione cleared her throat.

"Miss Skeeter. Would it possible to have a word?" She said in a sickly sweet voice, reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge.

The infamous tabloid-style reporter slowly turned her gaze to fireplace and looked down her nose at the bitchy little witch who had imprisoned her in a jar almost then years previous.

"Miss Granger." The blonde reported said with disgust as the noise of the type-writer ceased. "To what do I owe this displeasure?"

"I think I might have a rather _fabulous_ story for you. Something very much of your calibre."

"I see, I see. And why would your bitchy little self come to me with such a story? I was under the impression from our last encounter that you would never speak to me again."

"I would rather not to be perfectly honest but I believe if I give you _this_ particular story, you will owe me for life; I can't possibly turn that opportunity down."

"And what is this salacious bit of gossip that you need my help to reveal to Wizarding Britain."

"As I'm sure you know, Miss Skeeter, a picture is worth a thousand words and _this_ needs to be seen to be believed."

"Surely you don't expect me to trust you?"

"Of course not but this story will make your career, I assure you. Please come to the Potter residence in ten minutes and I assure you that you will not be disappointed. I swear it on my wand. Oh, and bring your photographer; like I said, a picture is worth a thousand words."

"What do you want, Miss Granger?"

Hermione feigned a sigh, as if giving up a pretence.

"I'm putting right a few wrongs and I realise I went a little overboard when I imprisoned you in that jar. I tend to go to extremes when people I love get hurt by your gossip but I know you were just doing your job and trying to sell papers. I think this might make up for my behaviour in the past."

_Merlin, I hope she's buying this shit._

"Very well, Miss Granger. Ten minutes. But I warn you, if this is a setup, you will be sorry." She warned as her eyes narrowed.

"I assure you, Miss Skeeter. You will love this."

With that Hermione withdrew back to Grimmauld Place and hurried toward the library once more.

* * *

Hermione entered the library to find that her friends had all returned to her party and left Harry and Draco in a wonderfully suggestive position. Draco's head lay on Harry's naked lap obscuring any shot too risqué for the front page of the Prophet; Harry's head was cast back as if he hadn't moved after the climax of a very good blow job and his hand had been placed in Draco's hair.

_It's almost perfect. Just a couple more little touches to make it more believable._

She waved her wand to silently move Draco's hand to rest on Harry's thigh and set a gentle movement spell on Harry's hand so it stroked Draco's hair.

_Now it's perfect._

The floo announcement chimed and butterflies bubbled in her stomach; she knew this was several steps too far but Harry and Draco had both invaded her privacy and in her mind this was simply a case of tit-for-tat; not to mention a wonderful warning to them not be so stupid in future as to try and out manoeuvre her wards.

"_Miss Granger?"_ Hermione heard the acidic reporter calling from the living room.

She checked the scene and magically smudged a little of Draco's lipstick around Harry's mouth before heading to greet her guests.

"Ah, Miss Skeeter and Mr…?"

"This is Reginald Twirly, Miss Granger, my photographer. "

"So glad you could both join me. Right this way." She said over her shoulder as she led them into the library; Rita following behind her looking both excited and apprehensive; Reginald Twirly checking a setting on his camera. When she reached the perfectly manufactured revenge scene, she stepped aside, allowing the reporter and photographer to get a good look.

Rita Skeeter's mouth dropped open in surprise as she took in the scene before her and her perfectly plucked eyebrows stretched upward.

"Is this real, Miss Granger?" she asked slowly.

"Do you care?"

Rita turned to the younger witch as Reginald started taking his photographs.

"I need to know how this came about and why you came to me with it."

"I trust you don't need to know one thing about the realities of what brought this about, you are perfectly capable of concocting something deliciously spiteful. As for my motivations, they are unimportant."

"Why, Miss Granger; I believe we could make a decent journalist out of you."

"I thought you'd like it." Hermione grinned conspiratorially. "Would you like a few minutes to think or do you think you have enough to go on?"

"Could I possibly get a quote from the famous Hermione Granger about how she is supporting the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice in his new relationship with the ex-death eater?"

"On the condition that Malfoy's shady past is not mentioned, I will say anything you want."

Rita rolled her eyes but conceded. "A fair compromise, I suppose." She sighed and a slightly sour look marred her features before she too sported a conspiratorial grin. "Just one more question, Miss Granger… what could these two have possibly done to prompt this level of callous betrayal from you?"

"I have no idea what you could possibly mean by that." Hermione replied with mock innocence. "Come, Miss Skeeter, Mister Twirly; I'll show you out."

"I'll get to the bottom of this Miss Granger." The platinum reporter said as they reached the floo.

"I have every faith in you, Rita." Hermione responded sarcastically, placing a hand on the shoulder of the last nemeses she had left."

"Come along, Twirly. Until next time, Miss Granger."

And they vanished in a flurry of green flames and soot.

* * *

Hermione entered her living room and threw a huge beaming grin at Ginny, Pansy and Luna before turning back to the photo frame on her mantelpiece.

"I had no choice but to throw a silencio at them, Hermione; they wouldn't shut up." Katie said.

"No problem… finite incantum."

"_What did you do Mione?"_

"_I'll get you for this Granger."_

"Oh I didn't do much. Just a little payback. Harry, you really should know better than to fuck with me and if you need a reminder, feel free to go and talk to Umbridge."

"_Hermione, I'm serious. What did you do?"_

Hermione decided not to answer his question. It was way too much fun to keep him guessing. The pranks were always better if the victim didn't know what was coming. It had started with quite the tall tale, a few months after war, and not even between Hermione and Harry; the first time, they'd teamed up to prank every single Weasley by announcing they were getting married, that they'd had a secret relationship since fourth year, that Rita Skeeter's story exposing them was not fabricated and that it was just time everyone knew since Hermione was pregnant. They'd kept it going for three weeks. Everyone except Ron had been impressed.

When Ginny had teamed up with Harry to get Hermione back for making her think she'd stolen Harry, the fireworks had begun; literally fireworks. Hermione had returned to school with fireworks concealed in every text book she owned and upon opening any of her given books, it would explode into brightly coloured displays with the sound of Harry and Ginny laughing. The howler sent back to Harry, passing on Hermione's screeching message that "This means war." was not lying. She had promptly sent to Flourish and Blotts for replacement books but charged Harry's Gringott's account with a forged letter from Harry saying all future book purchases by Hermione Granger were to be charged to his account as a thank you for helping him defeat Voldemort as he couldn't have done it without her.

After that, it had grown steadily more vindictive.

"Exsolvio" Hermione said, pointing at the frame. It glowed white again before returning to normal. "Off you go boys. Enjoy yourselves, yeah? You deserve it." She finished smiling.

Once the Harry and Draco had vanished back to their bodies, Hermione spelled the frame once more, rendering it incapable of hosting true consciousness again before turning back to her guests.

"Sorry about that. Would anyone like a top up?" She asked, summoning a fresh bottle of fire whiskey.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so I went a little crazy with Hermione on this one and I hope I tempered it well with the idea of the prank war. I put myself in Hermione's place at the beginning of this chapter and put in her position, I believe this is what I would've done.**

**As always, please review, favourite and follow if you don't already.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Oh wow, I can't believe it's been two months since I updated this. Sorry for dropping the ball on this one guys, I've had my head in Snape. Oh that sounds wrong but somewhat accurate all the same. I have stewed over the reaction of Harry and Draco, wondering whether they would be impressed, angry, shy around each other. In the end I realised I was being very indecisive and so decided to just start writing and see what they do. I have an end point in mind for this story but it's a little while off yet.**

* * *

Chapter 8

Harry's eyes opened wide as he felt cool air caressing his skin and a weight in his lap; he shivered as he looked down to see Draco Malfoy's signature platinum locks draped over his manhood.

"Oh, for fuck's sake." He groaned. "Draco. I'm going to kill the love of your life. You don't mind do you?"

His blonde accomplice opened his eyes, recognising the source of Harry's distain for his best friend at the face to groin staring contest he had just entered with Harry Potter's twig and giggleberries.

"No," Draco replied, attempting to dislodge himself with a dead arm and the imprint of Harry's body hair in his cheek. "In fact I'll help. I can hold her down for you."

"Nah, she might like that." Harry smirked; Draco moving to sit up and he covered himself with one of the cushions from behind him.

"We have to get the others back for this too. Pansy definitely played her part, I can guarantee it. I don't know much about Luna but your _wife_ is…" Draco stopped short, unsure how to continue without insulting his ex-enemy turned unlikely friend.

Harry took pity and answered for him.

"Evil. At least she is when her and Hermione get together. As for Luna, I think she might be responsible for that…" Harry said, gesturing toward Draco's face. "It's her shade, I think."

Draco conjured a mirror to examine himself.

"Oh, for fuck's sake." He said, echoing Harry's original frustration. "This better not be permanent. I knew this was a bad idea. How did I ever let you talk me into spying on them?"

"Me?" Harry asked incredulously. "Who was it that begged me to get him into Hermione's party? Who was it that didn't even tell me it was because he was in love with my best friend? Who was it that argued I needed to spy on my wife and…"

"Ok, ok, I get it. How on earth did she come up with this anyway? And where are our clothes?"

"Oh, erm…" Harry looked around as did Draco but neither wizard was able to locate the missing robes.

"They vanished our clothes. Bitches. I swear we need to get them back for this." Draco said as his patience wore thin and he transfigured a cushion into a robe. "At least they didn't take our wands."

"Oh we will get them ba-…" Harry stopped. Realisation dawning on him.

"What? What is it?"

"It's a fucking prank." He said, rubbing a hand down his face and wandlessly copying Draco is transfiguring a cushion into a robe. "Damn, I've gotta hand it to her. She got me good. This is worthy of Fred and George."

"What do you mean a prank? Does she do this sort of thing a lot?"

"Well, we sort of both do. It started just after the war; everyone needed a bit of cheering up so Mione and I decided to prank everyone. We told them we'd had a secret relationship through most of Hogwarts and were now getting married because she was pregnant."

Draco stared with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"We kept it going for three weeks. It was hilarious. Ron was the only one who didn't see the funny side. He and Mione never really took off after that."

"Wow. And this was just after the war?" Draco asked, his eyes glazing over as if remembering something.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, it's just the day after my trial, I was at the Hog's Head and I saw Ginny sitting at a booth and crying into a butterbeer. I didn't want to say anything as I assumed it was over losing someone she cared for in the war and I'd be the last person she wanted to see but if it was during your prank then…"

"Oh shit. I didn't know she'd cried over it. Well, me and Gin teamed up to get Mione back for 'stealing me' or at least giving the impression she did and that night me and Gin… well… you know."

"Ah, the first time you nailed the Weaslette. Nice!"

Harry snorted. But nodded.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" Draco asked.

"I have an idea and it's something she will not see coming but it's going to depend greatly on, well… you!"

"Is this going to involve me acting like a bloody Gryffindor and finding my ever reclusive bravery."

"Yeah but I think if we get this right it may actually end the whole prank because trust me, she'll be happy with it, speechless and we win, hands down."

"Ok," Draco responded suspiciously. "What's the plan?"

"First, I need to know something… are you truly in love with her? And if so, what are you willing to do to prove it?"

Draco took a deep breath and nodded.

"I really am." He said, looking Harry straight in the eyes. "I'd do anything for her. She's amazing. I mean, this aside," he gestured between them, indicating her latest 'prank', "I love her to bits. Actually maybe because of this, I love her more. She has a Slytherin side. I like that."

"So she's it for you yeah? Like with me and Gin. No other witch compares?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Erm, yeah. I mean she's Hermione Granger; Brightest witch of her age, brains of the Golden Trio, no offence; war heroine, not to mentioned she saved my arse from Azkaban."

"Right. Well then, we have work to do…"

"Wait a minute. What about the others?

"I already told you, Ginny helped me prank Hermione before. She'll be up for this and we'll need her help to keep Mione distracted. She's a double agent in this prank war; switches sides more often than Snape did. I'll talk to her when she gets…

Just at that moment, the flames from the library fire turned emerald green and Ginny walked out of it with a smirk on her face, eyeing her husband and his new friend.

"Evening boys." She said. "Did you enjoy getting better acquainted? We thought it was about time. Draco, would you like to stay, I don't mind sharing him with you."

All three of them burst out laughing.

"Party over already?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." She answered. "The Professors left first and then everyone just started saying goodbye and heading off. There's only Hermione and her muggle friend left now. I said I'd better go get a read on your reaction. You don't seem too pissed off so that's a good thing."

"Oh we're plenty pissed off but it was a good prank. It was a prank, right?" Harry asked, a little uncertain.

"Of course it was although I think there was real anger motivating her on this one. It really wasn't a good idea to invade the flat, you know what she's like."

"Yeah I know but I didn't think she'd go to this extreme if she found out. Although I have to be honest, I didn't think she'd find out."

"Well, she did. Are you guys already planning retribution?"

"Of course we are. This plan is going to be very Draco-centric and we're going to need your help; as well as Pansy and Luna, if you can swing it. Really, it's the least you can do."

"I'll see what I can do but first I need you to tell me what it is you're planning.

"Yeah, I need to know too." Draco added.

"Ok. Here's the plan…"

* * *

"Coffee?" Jo asked as she joined Hermione in the kitchen.

"Sounds great. I'm never drinking again. This whole night was a disaster." Hermione answered, her head in her hands. Jo suspected tears were on their way.

"Oh I don't know. You managed to trap your best friend and crush in a photograph for an hour. That was impressive. Draco seemed like he'd won the lottery when he heard you say you love him which makes me suspect he feels the same way. And from the way you and your friends were smirking at each other, I'm guessing you just won the prank war with Harry."

Hermione groaned as she remembered what she'd done to her best friend and the love of her life.

"I went too far. Neither of them are going to forgive me when the Prophet drops tomorrow." She said dejectedly.

"The Prophet? What does the newspaper have to do with…?" Jo gasped, her hand coming to her mouth. "Oh, Hermione, you didn't…"

Hermione nodded.

"I knew I could use the prank war to get revenge but it didn't seem like enough; they messed with my therapy; my recovery from the war. They know how much anxiety I have and so I just snapped. When we were stripping them for the prank, I just got this idea that a photo of them all naked and snuggled up on the front page of the Prophet would really be a fitting payback. They mess with my life, I mess with theirs. It seemed like such a great idea at the time and I just acted without thinking. I never do that. You know how much time I spend thinking."

Jo nodded as she sat at the table with their coffees.

"About as much time as everyone else spends breathing."

Hermione snorted a laugh and nodded.

"Hermione, this really out of character for you. Could there have been outside influences at work?"

Hermione looked up frowning.

"What do you mean? Magical influence? How? I know everyone who was here, even the interlopers."

"What were you drinking besides the veritequila?"

"Nothing. I'd had enough by the time everyone was switching. Why?"

"Where's the bottle?"

Hermione flicked her wand to summon the bottle from the living room bin and caught it in her other hand as it flew towards her.

"Let me see that…" Jo asked and was promptly handed the bottle.

After a moment of reading the label, Jo handed it back. "Read that."

Hermione took the bottle and squinted at the label on the back with slightly blurred vision.

_WARNING! Excessive consumption of this beverage acts on the subconscious and the drinker is compelled to act in a way which feels righteous at the time. Truth in actions rather than in words._

"Oh Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed. "So I only called Rita because I thought it would be a fitting punishment while I was inebriated on this stuff? Well, isn't that just great?" She asked, both rhetorically and sarcastically. " Great, great, great!"

"Well at least the mystery is solved. Now, tell me all about this love you have for Draco. As I don't get to write about it, I at least need to know all about it."

Hermione took a deep breath.

"Fine but there isn't much more to tell other than what I told the girls already."

"That's rubbish and you know it. I understand if you really don't want to talk about it but at least answer just one question…"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ok, what is it?" She asked resigned.

"Once all this prank stuff blows over and things settle down. If he asked you out, would you say yes?"

Hermione thought about it and a little smile played on her lips as she recalled the dream she had about him and how incredible it had been and how it didn't seem like a normal dream and how just maybe he was experiencing it too. It seemed impossible but in a world of stray and sentient magic, nothing was truly impossible.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I think I'd like to see if I could have something special with him. It seems so unlikely but I really think I could be happy with. I really do love him."

"Excellent. On that note, I think I'm going to get some sleep. I have a book signing tomorrow afternoon."

"Good idea. I need to get some sleep if I have to deal with Harry's wrath tomorrow."

They both drained their coffees and headed to their respective rooms and hugs and muttered 'goodnights'.

* * *

Jo lay in her bed thirty minutes later wondering if Harry's plan could work. He'd known it was prank as soon as Hermione and the other girls had left; announced it to the room with reassurances to both Draco and the collection of witches that no real harm would come of this little mishap.

He then proclaimed to a rapt audience that no matter what she did, he had an amazing plan to get her back, at which point he'd smiled at Draco. The boys had whispered for a few minutes and then he'd asked the entire room to help with his plan – Hermione wasn't going to know what hit her and despite Draco being obliviated again so he could claim plausible deniability, he had agreed that it was what he wanted.

When all the girls had returned to the party without Hermione, they were bombarded by everyone as to what they'd done to the boys and Katie had finally had to silence the boys incessant demands and questioning.

Now they had the newspaper to deal with in the morning and Jo hoped that it wouldn't put a dent in Harry's plans. She really wanted to see Hermione finally settled down and happy. With worry, streaming through her thoughts at all the possible outcomes, Jo drifted off into a restless sleep, wishing she could use all this new content in her books.

* * *

**A/N: Well there we have it. A slightly more subdued response than I'm sure most of you were expecting but I went with the idea that Harry was expecting something of prank proportions and so was not surprised and by having that attitude, Draco followed. Not to mention the plan he arranged with a room full of witches. Being the chosen one and having one the war, I made the choice that literally everyone in the wizarding world now has a soft spot for Harry and are incapable of staying mad at him.**

**I managed to get my signature cliff hanger so it's now all about Harry's plan. I hadn't planned to involve him this heavily in the story but he just decided to be important so now he is. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I know it's a little shorter than usual but I'm still getting back into this plotline so wanted to ease back in.**

**Please read, review, favourite and follow. I love getting feedback.**

**Until next time**

**Moon Out! x**


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